South Asian ferrous scrap importers continue to stay cautious and trade in limited volumes amid weak end-user demand. Only a few buyers and suppliers were active in the market on Monday and the gap between offers and bids remain wide. Weak steel demand from the retail estate and construction sectors remains a cause of concern for steelmakers.
In Turkey, the daily Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) Friday fell 6/mt to $283/mt cfr Turkey from a week earlier.
Pakistan
Pakistani ferrous scrap buyers slowed trades on Monday, however, offers jumped up sharply from the last week. Domestic finished steel demand is expected to recover gradually in the coming days once the Chinese market resumes after the Golden Week holidays.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded Monday settled at $305.86/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $1.15/mt from Friday. Trades for containerized shredded of Europe-origin were reported at $303-305/mt cfr Port Qasim. Offers from UK yards were at $310-315/mt cfr Port Qasim on Monday. Higher offers pushed the index up, however, trades were slow on Monday. Weak domestic market is likely to keep prices rangebound this week, said traders.
Dubai-origin #1 HMS scrap in containers traded at $300/mt cfr Qasim on Monday. The Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $288/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $2/mt from Friday. Buyers were interested in HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $285/mt cfr Port Qasim but the offers were at $290-295/mt cfr Qasim on Monday. Supply from Dubai yards remains limited and demand for prompt delivery materials has been increasing from India.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) Monday settled at $286.43/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $1.43/mt from Friday. Most US yards were unwilling to offer large volumes citing expectations of a strong market in October. Offers were at $290-295/mt cfr Port Qasim against bids of $285/mt cfr Port Qasim.
In the domestic market, Bala billet prices were unchanged at PKR91,000-91,200/mt ex-works Punjab amid thin trades. Domestic Pure Q toke scrap equivalent to shredded traded at PKR71,200-71,300/mt del Lahore mill, steady from last week.
Local rebar prices were at PKR103,000/mt ex-works. Leading rebar producers in Karachi kept base offer prices flat at PKR111,000-112,000/mt ex-works. Some mills, however, are offering a discount of around PKR1,000/mt to boost sales.
Bangladesh
Imported scrap remained unhealthy for most secondary steelmakers who have lowered their production volumes to 60pc of capacity. Ferrous scrap demand thus remained limited in the country. Under flooded areas are struggling with activities to recover and end-user demand remained hit.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, was at $320.13/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $0.13/mt. Buyers preferred to buy shredded from Australia and Africa in containers amid quicker deliveries at $320-322/mt cfr Chattogram. UK yards were unwilling to offer material below $325/mt cfr Chattogram.
In the bulk market, West Coast US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) offers showed successive drop following global cues and prolonged silence from Bangladeshi mills. Firm offers on Monday were at $312-315/mt cfr Chattogram, down $5/mt with no buyers at those levels. Prices are likely to drop further in the coming days as the appetite for bulk cargoes remains weak amid enough inventories in hand and rising domestic ship breaking scrap supply.
Vietnamese buyers had slowed their ferrous scrap trades due to weak finished steel prices, however, now with China resuming trades post-Golden week holidays and Vietnamese buyers back into market, Asian buying activity could see improvement however, the cases of sharp rise or a sharp drop in ferrous scrap market is less likely said a trader. Demand for Japanese small bulk cargoes also dimmed over the last week.
The index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $305/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1.25/mt from Friday. Some trades for Australia and US origin HMS scrap have concluded in the range of $305-310/mt cfr Chattogram, with a few secondary mills looking for cheaper materials at lower prices.
The index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at $300/mt cfr Chattogram on Monday with trades reported at the same prices. Offers were scarce, and most Brazilian traders sought $300-305/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20) as domestic demand remains firm in their home country. Trades for HMS 1&2 (90:10) from the US west coast were reported at $310/mt cfr Chattogram. Suppliers could target $305-307/mt cfr Chattogram levels in the coming days.
Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT31,000-31,200/mt ex-yard Chattogram, flat over this week. HMS 1&2 (80:20) was priced at BDT29,000-29,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram.
Domestic small and medium-scale mills kept domestic scrap purchase prices flat. Domestic billets traded at BDT40,000-40,500/mt ex-works, unchanged from the last week.
In Bangladesh, prolonged weak domestic finished steel demand and delays in the resumption of infrastructural projects have forced steelmakers to curtail production. Small-scale producers offered rebar at BDT49,000-50,000/mt ex-works, down by at least BDT4,000-5,000/mt compared to the prices quoted by large steel producers like BSRM and AKS. Impacting profit margins of large-scale steelmakers further.
($1= PKR163.62; BDT84.67)