Pakistan
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, rose by $0.71/mt to settle at $528.21/mt cfr Port Qasim.
Ferrous scrap buyers in Pakistan reduced bids as global prices softened. Most mills have enough stocks to meet their production requirements to cater to the demand amid the lockdown restrictions and ongoing monsoons. Buyers thus stayed away from booking material as they found offer levels firm.
Offers for shredded were at $530-535/mt cfr Qasim, with a deal for 2,000mt material heard at $528/mt cfr Qasim.
Fresh offers were few due to softening prices, while most buyers waited for prices to decline further. Sellers, however, expect trading to pick up in mid-August and give prices a lift.
Offers from ferrous scrap sellers in UAE were unchanged on Tuesday, and the daily index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was unchanged at $495/mt cfr Port Qasim. Deals for UAE-origin mixed #1 HMS and P&S were heard at $510/mt cfr Port Qasim.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, settled at $490/mt cfr Port Qasim down by $2/mt from last Tuesday.
In the domestic market, large-scale mills kept rebar prices unchanged on healthy sales. Offers for G-60rebar were at PKR166,000-167,000/mt ex-works Karachi and Punjab. Local rebar offers were above PKR155,000-156,000/mt ex-works Lahore. Bala billet prices were flat at PKR140,500/mt ($855/mt) ex-works.
In the domestic scrap market, Art Q toke scrap (equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S) traded at PKR106,500/mt ex-yard Lahore and Pure Q toke scrap (equivalent to shredded) at PKR108,500/mt ex-yard Lahore.
Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi market continued to be silent with the COVID-19 restrictions impacting market sentiment. From Wednesday, however, the restrictions will be eased. Mills have slowed operations and stayed away from booking material.
Inventories of imported scrap and finished steel remain piled with mills on subdued demand.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $542/mt cfr Chattogram down by $5/mt. Offers for containerized shredded were at $540-545/mt cfr Chattogram. Elevated freight charges also slowed containerized shredded deals.
The daily index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $520/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1.25/mt.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America was unchanged at $508/mt cfr Chattogram in a slow market.
($1=PKR164.26)