Imported ferrous scrap offers in Bangladesh remained firm on Thursday amid stable demand. Mills are waiting for the domestic market to become supportive before raising finished steel prices and offset the increased input cost. With the floods in most steel-producing regions receding, even the small-scale secondary steelmakers have started booking containerized scrap. A shortage of containers globally, mainly due to a mismatch between imports and exports, has also increased the landed cost.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $339.39/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $0.43/mt. Trades for UK-origin shredded concluded at $340-345/mt cfr Chattogram amid tight supply. UK suppliers refused to offer shredded below $345/mt cfr Chattogram and are hoping to raise it above $350/mt cfr Chattogram.
Dhaka-based mills were looking to book containers of Australian shredded at $330-335/mt cfr Chattogram, but no suppliers were willing to match these levels. P&S from the UK and Latin America traded at $340-345/mt cfr Chattogram.
Japanese suppliers kept #2 HMS offers at JPY28,500-29,000/mt fob, up by JPY1,000/mt from the prior week. In the small bulk market, offers were at $325/mt cfr Chattogram, a $10-15/mt rise from the prior week.
The index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Thursday, settled at $324.57/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $0.19/mt from Wednesday. Offers were at $325-330/mt cfr Chattogram for material from the UK and US. Australian suppliers preferred to sell HMS containers to Bangladesh and Indonesia, where prices were viable for trades and withdrew offers for the Indian buyers.
In the bulk market, US West Coast suppliers were said to be sold out for November and December and are offering January shipments.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $319/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $1/mt. But mostly, buying interest was at $315/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20), with suppliers refusing to accept these levels. South American yards largely stayed away from export markets amid strong domestic demand. Still, a few deals were heard for HMS #1 at $322-325/mt cfr Chattogram.
Major steelmakers in Chattogram sold billets at BDT42,000-42,500/mt ($495-501/mt) ex-works Chattogram, up by BDT500-1,000/mt from the prior week’s close. Large steel producers could raise billet prices in the next few days. On Friday, large producers offered rebar at BDT56,000-57,000/mt ex-works, with a possibility of a further hike by BDT500-1,000/mt to accommodate higher input costs.
Dhaka-based finished steel producers continued to sell rebars at BDT50,000-50,500/mt ex-works, up by BDT1,000-1,500/mt from the prior week. Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT32,000-32,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram, up by BDT1,000/mt from the prior week. Offers for shipbreaking scrap increased this week with the domestic scrap prices gaining momentum, coupled with limited supply with yards due to the arrival of a fewer ship in the last few weeks.
($1= BDT84.93)