Bangladeshi mills stayed away from imported ferrous scrap bookings amid weak domestic steel demand. An extended national lockdown by five days till Aug 10 to control the spread of COVID-19 impacted buying interest.
Demand for imported scrap is expected to recover soon. Processors expect production to reach full capacity once laborers return to work and rainfall recedes in the coming weeks.
Presently, inventories of both ferrous scrap and finished steel have piled up on subdued demand. Steelmakers are eyeing a price hike for steel after resumption in activity next week after the lockdown lifts.
The weekly index for ship scrap equivalent to P&S settled at BDT49,750/mt ($587/mt) ex-yards, up BDT500/mt. A rise in ship vessels prices, which hit above $620-630/ldt, made recyclers raise domestic rolling and melting scrap offers. For ship plates asking rates rose to BDT58,000/mt ex yards. The weekly index for domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at BDT46,250/mt ex-yards Chattogram, up by BDT250/mt on Friday.
The weekly index for rebar from large-scale mills Friday settled unchanged at BDT71,500/mt ex-works. The weekly Davis Index for rebar by medium-scale was at BDT66,750/mt ex-works, up by BDT500/mt, and for small-scale mills, the index settled at BDT62,000/mt ex-works, up by BDT1,000/mt.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $547.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down $0.5/mt from Thursday. Deals for the Australia/US-origin shredded concluded at $548-550/mt cfr Chattogram. The index dropped by $2.5/mt from a week ago. Trading for containerized scrap was slow. Large-scale mills could inquire for bulk shipments on elevated freight rates in the containers market due to tight container supply.
Most mills stayed away from purchases amid a lack of liquidity, piled up inventories, and halted finished steel sales during the lockdown.
The daily index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $518.75/mt cfr Chattogram, down $1.25/mt. From prior Friday, the index dropped $7.5/mt. While the indexes for UK-origin and Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $512/mt and $520/mt cfr Chattogram, respectively, down by $3/mt from July 30.
Offers for #1 HMS from Australia and the UAE were at $530-535/mt cfr Chattogram with no buyers interested in those levels.
Offers for higher grades like #1 busheling, NTP, and P&S in containers were at $575/mt, $565/mt, and $555/mt cfr Chattogram, respectively. From prior Friday, the Davis Index for P&S 5ft dropped $2/mt to settle at $553/mt cfr while the index for #1 busheling was at $575/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $7/mt.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America remained unchanged at $507/mt cfr Chattogram. From the prior Friday, the index dropped by $3/mt. Bids were between $500-505/mt cfr Chattogram as global prices softened. Traders have been struggling to find empty containers for exports.
Except for a few government-funded construction projects, steel-consuming activities remain stalled and could take at least until mid-August to normalize.
($1=BDT84.79)