Bangladesh’s domestic steel market has been less supportive of ferrous scrap imports for over one month. Importers continued buying only as per need basis, while major mills have refused bulk trades amid enough inventories in hand to meet the current demand. Transportation activities were disturbed due to heavy rains and floods in the outskirts of Dhaka. Pulling sentiments down, buyers lowered bids by at least $10/mt as they found it non-viable to book more containers.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $321/mt cfr Chattogram, down $5.5/mt from the prior week. Several trades for containerised shredded scrap from Europe, Australia and New Zealand reported at $320-322/mt cfr Chattogram against bids of $318-320/mt cfr Chattogram. On Friday, offers for containerized shredded from the UK were heard at $325/mt cfr Chattogram while buyers were totally quiet.
Most Japanese suppliers were away from bulk offers amid holidays. Bangladeshi buyers refused #2 HMS offers in small bulks at $310/mt cfr Chattogram.
Mills were silent for US bulk with offers around $320/mt cfr Chattogram. The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $305/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $5/mt from prior Friday. Offers were high from yards amid short supply, but importers were not in a position to pay more.
The index for UK/EU-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) dropped by $2/mt to $303/mt cfr Chattogram from the prior week. A few sellers offered HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $305-310/mt cfr Chattogram, while bids dropped to $300-303/mt cfr Chattogram on Friday. The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled flat at $305/mt cfr Chattogram from the prior week.
The index for Latin American-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $305/mt cfr Chattogram Friday, down by $5/mt from a week-prior. A few containers of HMS 1&2 (80:20) traded at index price cfr Chattogram, while #1 HMS traded at $310/mt cfr Chattogram. Brazilian suppliers offered very limited materials due to a stronger domestic market.
The Davis Index for busheling settled at $336/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $7/mt from the prior week. P&S from South America and Australia traded at $318-320/mt cfr Chattogram. The weekly index for the grade settled at $318/mt cfr, down by $8/mt while bids dropped to $310-315/mt cfr Chattogram. Trades for higher grade scrap were subdued amid limited buying interest.
Finished, semi-finished steel
Domestic steel demand in Bangladesh is still far from normal. Only branded rebar suppliers were able to afford imported scrap. Heavy floods around the manufacturing area of Dhaka and disruption of transportation have suspended trades in many local markets.
The weekly index for domestic billet Friday settled unchanged at BDT41,000/mt ($483.3/mt) ex-works Chattogram. Several trades were reported at the index price. Market participants believe demand for rebar could take longer to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Major steelmakers in Chattogram are offering volume-based discounts to push sales amid a pile-up of finished inventories. Large steelmakers sold rebar at BDT55,500/mt ex-Chattogram, pushing the index up BDT182/mt from the prior week. BSRM held base offers at BDT56,500/mt ex-works while AKS steel offered the same at BDT53,500/mt ex-works.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from medium steelmakers settled at BDT50,250/mt ex-works, unchanged from the prior week, inclusive of VAT. Rebar by small-scale producers traded at BDT49,000/mt ex-works, flat from the prior week.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
In the shipbreaking market, Bangladeshi recyclers held offers stable at $360-370/ldt cfr Chattogram from the prior week. Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT30,500-31,000/mt delivered mill on Friday, down BDT500/mt from the prior week. HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at BDT28,800-29,200/mt ex-Chattogram. The weekly index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at BDT29,000/mt ex- Bangladesh yard.
($1=BDT84.62)