Pakistan’s ferrous scrap trades increased this week as mills looked to refill inventories. Prices also mirrored the rise in Turkish bulk scrap prices.
The weekly Davis Index for containerised shredded rose by $16/mt and settled at $306/mt cfr Port Qasim on Friday. Early in the week, trades for containerised shredded concluded at $298-302/mt cfr Qasim. Prices rose to $307-310/mt cfr Qasim late in the week. Suppliers from the UK and EU offered shredded at $310/mt cfr Port Qasim on Friday.
Dubai origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at $295-300/mt cfr Port Qasim with its index settling at $298/mt cfr Port Qasim. Trades of high-quality mixed scrap including #1 HMS and P&S were at $305-310/mt cfr Qasim, up by $10-15/mt from the prior week.
Containerised HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK and US, traded at $280-285/mt cfr Port Qasim on Friday, up by $10/mt from the prior week. Early in the week, South Africa #1 HMS traded in the range of $290-295/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $5/mt from the prior week. Sellers raised offers for the same grades to $297-298/mt cfr Port Qasim late in the week. No trades were reported at those prices.
The Davis Index for Busheling settled at $314/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $9/mt from the prior week. Busheling sold to southern region steel mills was priced at $310/mt cfr Qasim early this week. Late in the week, prices rose to $312/mt cfr and $315/mt cfr Qasim.
The Davis Index for P&S 5ft settled at $308/mt cfr Port Qasim on Friday, up from $303/mt cfr Qasim last week.
Pakistan’s domestic billet prices also rose driven by increased imported scrap prices. The weekly Davis Index for commercial Bala billet rose by PKR750/mt to PKR84,750/mt ex-yards Punjab inclusive of local taxes. The Davis Index for G-60 billet remained unchanged at PKR90,000/mt cfr Qasim.
The weekly index for Pakistan’s domestic high-grade scrap equivalent to shredded settled unchanged at PKR65,000/mt ($418/mt) delivered Punjab.
The Davis Index for G-60 rebar rose to PKR107,000/mt ex-plant Karachi, up PKR1,000/mt from a week ago. But if demand does not pick up, many mills in Punjab plan to trim their capacities to avoid losses. Despite low demand, mills raised rebar prices and its index settled at PKR106,000/mt ex producers, up by PKR1,000/mt to cover increased input cost.