Pakistani ferrous scrap importers lowered their bids as they hold enough inventories and are not in a hurry to book material. Most mills have decided to postpone their bookings to March-end or early April so that material arrives after the Ramadan month. Prices have touched a one-month low.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $425.36/mt cfr Port Qasim, down by $2.14/mt. Limited volumes of shredded were booked at $425/mt cfr Port Qasim from the US and UK. On Tuesday, however, bids by mills in Karachi for shredded were in the range of $415-422/mt cfr Qasim.
In Turkey, the index for HMS 1&2 (80:20), Monday, fell by $4.09/mt to $432.25/mt cfr Turkey. The next round of negotiations for US-origin material is expected to be in the range of $430-435/mt cfr Turkey on slow rebar sales in the export markets.
Buyers and sellers both are resisting strongly each other’s price expectations. Price direction is unclear and market participants waiting for Turkey to offers any cues. The Chinese market has been fluctuating 3-4pc every day. Ramadan could begin on April 16, when trading is expected to slow down due to limited operating hours.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, settled at $415.71/mt cfr Port Qasim, down $1.54/mt. Pakistani mills targeted $400-405/mt cfr Port Qasim levels for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Australia, UK, and the US in line with Indian buyers. But no sellers were in the market at those levels.
Offers for #1 HMS and P&S from UAE dropped by $5/mt to $410-420/mt cfr Port Qasim, depending on quality. The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $403/mt cfr Port Qasim, stable from a day prior.
Domestic scrap and billet prices drop on weak demand
On Tuesday, Bala billet offers were in the range of PKR105,000-105,500/mt ex-works. Trading was thin as construction demand has been slower than earlier expected. Falling ferrous scrap prices globally has dented domestic sentiment. End-users hope prices for steel drop first to resume trades again.
Trades for G-60 billets were heard in the range PKR112,500-113,000/mt ex-works Punjab. Rebar prices were unchanged at PKR135,500/mt ex-works Karachi, and PKR131,500/mt ex-works Punjab. But mills could soon offer discounts of PKR1,000-1,500/mt or lower base asking rates to match with buyers’ expectations.
Domestic ferrous scrap prices
On Tuesday, offers for Art Q toke scrap equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S were at PKR86,000-86,500/mt ex-yard Lahore, despite a decline in imported scrap offers. Pure Q toke scrap equivalent to shredded traded down by PKR500-700/mt to PKR87,500-87,700/mt ex-yard Lahore. Prices have room to drop further, believe Gadani based yards.
($1=PKR157.14)