Bangladesh mills continued to book containerized scrap this week with demand showing signs of recovery. A bulk booking reported early this week kept sentiment positive even in the containers market. But the market could turn silent in the coming weeks as mills have enough inventories to meet their production requirement for the rest of 2020.
In the bulk market, offers for US West Coast-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were around $330/mt cfr Chattogram. In the latter part of the week, however, no buyer was keen on trades as bulk freight rates have also increased.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $331/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $5.43/mt from the prior week. Buyers booked containers of shredded from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand at $328-332/mt cfr Chattogram. On Friday, offers for containerized shredded from the UK were heard at $335/mt cfr Chattogram against bids of $325/mt cfr Chattogram.
The weekly Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $320/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $4/mt from the prior week. The index for UK/EU-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by $8/mt to $318/mt cfr Chattogram from the prior week. A few trades for HMS 1&2 (90:10) from the UK were at $320/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $314/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3/mt. Offers were scarce as most Brazilian traders sought $313-315/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20) due to firm prices in their domestic market. Trades for Latin American HMS #1 were at $318-320/mt cfr Chattogram, at prices up by $5/mt from the prior week.
Most sellers diverted offers to Bangladesh since Indonesian buyers were away for national holidays. Brazilian P&S scrap containers traded at $332-335/mt cfr Chattogram, and those from UK/EU at $325/mt cfr Chattogram. The weekly Davis Index for busheling settled at $352/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $6/mt with limited trades.
Finished, semi-finished steel
Domestic steel demand in Bangladesh is yet to return to the pre-COVID-19 levels, but end-user demand has started picking up. Steel prices, therefore, ended their downtrend. The sustainability of this price rise, however, is questionable as the recovery is not as robust as expected.
The weekly Davis Index for domestic billet Friday settled at BDT40,625/mt ex-works Chattogram, up by BDT650/mt, with trades at the index price. Major steelmakers in Chattogram are offering billets in the range of BDT41,000-41,500/mt ex-works Chattogram.
The weekly Davis Index for rebar from medium-scale steelmakers settled at BDT49,750/mt ex-works, up by BDT250/mt, inclusive of VAT. Large steel producers like BSRM and AKS are offering rebar at BDT56,000-57,000/mt and BDT55,000/mt ex-works, respectively, with the index settling at BDT55,750/mt ex-works. Dhaka-based finished steel producers sold rebars at BDT49,000/mt ex-works, at prices up by BDT500-1,000/mt from the prior week. Most mills struggled to stay profitable and have even canceled discounts on rebar and billets.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S traded at BDT31,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram, down by BDT500/mt. HMS 1&2 (80:20) was priced at BDT29,000-29,500/mt ex-yard Chattogram. Offers for scrapped vessel imports remained in the range of $350-360/ldt, with a few trades reported this week.
($1=BDT84.80)