India’s imported ferrous scrap prices dropped for a second successive week as buyers lowered their bids following global cues. Prices fell by a total of $8-15/mt this week depending on the grades and origins, and are likely to decline further.
Major steelmakers preferred domestic scrap which registered a sharp decline early this week. In the latter part of the week though, domestic scrap and sponge iron prices rose and inquiries for imported scrap picked up. Thus, suppliers resisted lowered bids with hopes of rising demand and prices in the coming week.
The daily Davis Index for containerised shredded settled at $270/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, down by $3/mt from a day ago and by $8/mt from the prior week. Offers for shredded from the UK and Europe were in the range $275-280/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with very limited trades reported at these levels.
Labourers have started returning to mills and trades are expected to pick up next week.
The Davis Index for UAE-origin containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $252/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $1/mt from a day ago and by $13/mt from the prior week. The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $265/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $1/mt from Thursday and down by $15/mt from the prior week.
Following increasing economic activities, Indian domestic rebar and billet prices rose after mid-week.
The index for South African HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $255/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $5/mt from the prior week. South African suppliers continued to face permit issues and there were no fresh offers in the market. Brazil and West African HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers traded at $240-245mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
The index for the UK and Europe-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $248/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $5/mt from the prior week. Trades for the grade in containers concluded at $250-255/mt cfr Chennai. Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $250-255/mt cfr Nhava Sheva and Mundra, down by $10/mt from the prior week.
In Goa and Chennai, West African HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $250-253/mt cfr. Bids then dropped to $245/mt cfr levels in the latter part of the week due to a fall in domestic semi-finished steel and scrap prices.
The weekly indexes for busheling and P&S in containers settled at $290/mt cfr and $273/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, both down by $8/mt from the prior week. Trades for Turning scrap were at $225/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with bids at $220-225/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday.
Market highlights
South Asia
The daily Davis Index for containerised shredded settled at $271.25/mt cfr India subcontinent on Friday, down $2.75/mt from $274/mt on Thursday.
The daily Davis Index for containerised US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $252.65/mt cfr India subcontinent on Friday, down $2.10/mt from the prior day.
Taiwan
Imported scrap trades remained slow due to dragon boat holidays in the country.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $242/mt cfr Taiwan, unchanged from Thursday but down by $8/mt. Offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from South and Central America were at $245/mt cfr Taiwan, however, bids from buyers dropped to $230-235/mt cfr Taiwan for the grade.
Offers for Australian-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) dropped to $235-240/mt cfr Taiwan.
Japan
Japanese ferrous scrap prices in both, export and domestic markets declined by JPY1,000/mt on Friday. Tokyo Steel lowered bids for ferrous scrap for the second time in three days. After the revision, purchase prices declined by JPY1,000/mt effective June 27 at Tokyo Steel’s Utsunomiya plant. Prices remained unchanged at its four other works.
Price for #2 HMS delivered to the Utsunomiya works is at JPY25,000/mt ($233/mt). In small bulk markets, Japanese HMS 1&2 (50:50) was offered at $250-255/mt cfr Taiwan, down by $10/mt from the prior Friday.
Bids from South Korean and Vietnamese mills for #2 HMS were at JPY23,000-23,500/mt fob Japan, down by JPY1,000-1,500/mt from Thursday.
($1=Rs75.59;JPY106.92)