Bangladeshi steel mills bought limited containers of imported scrap this week. Most mills either have enough inventories to meet their production requirements or preferred to book lower-priced domestic scrap. An increase in steel demand has resulted in prices rising by $5-7/mt from the early week.
In the bulk market, some shredded cargoes were offered at $320-325/mt cfr Chattogram levels.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $326/mt cfr Chattogram, unchanged from Thursday, but up by $6/mt from the prior week. On Friday, offers for containerized shredded from the UK were heard at $330-335/mt cfr Chattogram. Few deals for Australia and New Zealand-origin shredded were heard at $325/mt cfr Chattogram. However, offers on Friday were above $330/mt cfr Chattogram levels following global cues. A few trades of LMS bundles were at $270-275/mt cfr Chattogram and NP busheling bundles at $335-340/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $305/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3/mt from the prior week. A few containers of #1 HMS from South American countries, including Brazil traded at $300-305/mt cfr Chattogram. But some Dhaka-based mills were reluctant to book material at these levels and preferred to import sponge iron from India at $270/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $10/mt from the prior week.
The Davis Index for busheling settled at $338/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2mt from the prior week. P&S from South America and Australia traded at $325/mt cfr Chattogram. The weekly index for the grade settled at $325/mt cfr, up by $2/mt.
Finished and semi-finished steel
Domestic steel prices rose early in the week as demand showed signs of recovery. Firm input costs have also added to the prices.
The weekly index for domestic billet settled at BDT41,000/mt ($484/mt), down by BDT500/mt ex-works Chattogram. Trades are starting to pick up further with expectations of rains halting in the coming days.
Major steelmakers in Chattogram raised their rebar offers despite limited trades on bullish indications in some global markets. Rebar traded at BDT56,000-57,000/mt ex-works Chattogram. Sales by large mills improved due to a resumption of infrastructural projects, including the Padma bridge.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from medium steelmakers settled at BDT51,250/mt ex-works, down by BDT1,250/mt from the prior week, inclusive of VAT. Rebar by small-scale producers traded at BDT50,000-50,500/mt ex-works, up by BDT125/mt from the prior week.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
In the shipbreaking market, scrapped ships were offered at $350-360/ldt cfr Chattogram, but some deals were also reported at $325-330/ldt cfr Chattogram.
The weekly Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by BDT1,500/mt to BDT29,750/mt ex-yards Chattogram inclusive of local taxes. Trades were reported at BDT29,500-30,000/mt ex-yards Chattogram. The Davis Index for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S settled at BDT30,500/mt ex-yard, up by BDT1,000/mt from the prior week. By the weekend, prices increased further amid an increasing price trend.
($1=BDT84.71)