Indian imported ferrous scrap buyers remained hesitant to book containerised ferrous scrap on Monday amid a lack of clarity on global prices and weak domestic steel demand. Most buyers preferred to await until scrap prices cool-off.
In Turkey, steel mills have remained silent for more than a week, also, Turkish currency lira remained stressed causing buyers to pay more for imported scrap.
In the bulk market, offers for HMS 1&2(80:20) were in the range $295-305/mt cfr Kandla, however, no trades were reported. Indian suppliers in South and West coast were looking for billet export at $415-420/mt fob India, however, no buyers in China or Southeast Asian markets were interested at offers above $405/mt fob India or $435-440/mt cfr SE buyer. Asian importers reluctance to bid at higher prices indicates that demand has still not recovered both in the domestic and export markets. Most mills could try to liquidate inventories in the domestic market to maintain cash flows, a trader said.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded Monday settled at $307.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $0.33/mt from the prior week. UK-origin containerized shredded were offered at $310-315/mt cfr Nhava Sheva and Mundra, but buyers refused deal at those levels.
The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) of UAE-origin settled at $292.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $2.5/mt from Friday. Deals for Dubai-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $290-295/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, however, bids on Monday dropped to $285-287/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Buyers preferred UAE-origin materials for its shorter delivery period compared to supplies from the UK or the US. Pakistani importers were still paying higher and Indian mills continued to lose tonnages to Pakistani buyers.
Many trades for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Australia and Brazil were reported at $285-290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva depending on quality, down $5/mt from early this week. West African suppliers are offering $270/mt cfr Chennai, but we are not buying at the moment said a South-based TMT maker.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $288.5/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $5.5/mt from Friday. A sharp drop in bids pulled the index down, while trades were heard at $290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
After rains subside, a pickup in construction and infrastructure projects could spur demand. Additionally, should the government agree to secondary steelmakers’ demand to restrict steel imports and hike duties, many domestic steel producers could ramp up production.
In the shipbreaking markets, shortage of rerolling scrap internationally has pushed offers by $20-25/ldt over the last week. Scrapped containers and tankers were offered at $350-360/ldt cfr Alang as demand showed signs of recovery after a long gap.
Subcontinent
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $300.38/mt cfr India subcontinent down from $0.87/mt form Friday. The daily Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $282/mt cfr, down by $3.97/mt from $285.97/mt cfr India subcontinent.
($1=Rs74.14)