Bangladeshi mills booked limited tonnages of imported scrap only to keep their furnaces fuelled. A few mills, based on international cues, believe prices could bottom out. Suppliers were also unwilling to reduce their asking prices. Elevated freight rates and port congestion might result in increased landing costs for the raw material, keeping steel prices firm. The blockage of the Suez Canal due to a 20,000 TEU vessel may impact container shipping lines operations on the European route, believe experts.
But mills struggled to sell finished steel and expect sentiments to improve for around two weeks before Ramadan starts. In late April, steel prices could drop BDT5,000/mt at the minimum, keeping containerized trades limited.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $451.43/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1.43/mt. Trades for shredded concluded at $450-455/mt cfr Chattogram, pushing index marginally up. Offers were at $455/mt cfr Chattogram against bid expectations of $440-445/mt cfr Chattogram.
Japanese suppliers kept their offers unchanged at $445-450/mt cfr Chattogram for #2 HMS in the small bulk cargoes amid healthy demand from Vietnamese buyers. Buying interest was at $435-440/mt cfr Chattogram.
Limited container availability, port congestion, and unavailability of vessel space have impacted imported purchases.
The daily index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America settled at $433/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3/mt from a day prior. Bids were in the range of $420-430/mt cfr Chattogram against expectations of $445-450/mt cfr Chattogram from suppliers’ yards in Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay.
The indexes for US-origin, UK, and Australia-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) on Wednesday settled at $437.5/mt, $429/mt, and $439/mt cfr Chattogram, respectively, unchanged from a day ago.
Domestic scrap prices stable on-demand
Active demand for domestic scrap kept prices firm in the domestic market. Shipbreaking melting scrap equivalent to P&S remained at BDT43,000-43,500/mt ex-works, while domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) remained unchanged at BDT41,500-42,000/mt ex-yard Chattogram.
Asking prices for rebar by large steelmakers were at BDT67,000-68,000/mt ex-works, while BDT63,000-64,000/mt ex-works, flat for almost a month. Domestic billet prices were at BDT55,000-55,500/mt ex-works Chattogram.
($1=BDT84.72)