Bangladeshi steel mills slowed imported scrap trades on Monday. A shortage of containers and high freight costs forced mills to focus on domestic scrap. Imported scrap offers have gone up incrementally leading to thin trades, while a BDT1,500-2,000/mt uptick in domestic scrap prices encouraged some imported scrap buyers.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $450/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $3.75/mt from Friday. Bulk offers rose sharply in Turkey, while bids from Bangladeshi buyers lagged in global trends. Containerized shredded offers from the UK and US mills are scarce while a few are offering above $455-465/mt cfr Chattogram.
The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $436.25/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $5/mt from Friday. Deals from the UK reported at $435-440/mt cfr Chattogram with indications of a further rise in the coming days. Offers are $445-460/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia and the US, differing by quality. Amid short supply of empty container boxes and shipping lines’ refusal to load materials, many yards could differ the quality of scrap for previously booked orders, thereby putting traders and indenters in a spot, if mills raise concerns. A few traders said they might stay away from fresh deals for a month or so till things settle down.
For Asian buyers, bulk offers have turned unrealistic with a few quotes reaching scarier levels of $490-500/mt cfr Chattogram for US-origin mixed HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $428/mt cfr Chattogram up by $6/mt from Friday. There is no limit for offers as it’s a sellers’ market and they could hold offers till the market continue to trend upwards, said a trader. Offers for Latin American mix HMS #1 and P&S rose to $440-450/mt cfr Chattogram on Monday, while a few containers were booked at $445-450/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia, New Zealand and Chile late last week.
Ship scrap equivalent to P&S finally rebound to recover by BDT1,500-2,000/mt on Monday. Domestic scrap prices which showed a disconnect with imported scrap prices are now in sync. This could encourage trades in the next few days, anticipates a recycler. The grade was traded at BDT39,500-40,000/mt ex-works up BDT1,500-2,000/mt from Friday. Also, domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offered at BDT38,000-38,500/mt ex yards Chattogram. Offers for scrapped vessel imports are at $430-450/ldt, up $30/ldt from the prior week.
Domestic billet trades heard at BDT47,500-48,500/mt ex-works Chattogram. Large-scale rebar makers kept their base prices for rebar at BDT62,000-64,000/mt ex-works to maintain spreads between scrap and rebar. Demand, however, was slow. Small-scale rebar makers offered at BDT53,000-53,500/mt ex-works.
($1= BDT84.68)