Bangladeshi buyers were largely away from purchasing imported ferrous scrap. Steel demand and prices in the country remained subdued amid the COVID-19-related lockdown until Aug 5.
Inventories of both ferrous scrap and finished steel remain piled up. Bangladesh witnessed the arrival of bulk cargoes in July, booked before monsoons, anticipating a recovery in steel demand. Imports of ferrous scrap in bulk almost doubled to over 220,000mt from June.
Large-scale steelmakers have increased the production of oxygen and diverted it for medical use. The pace of construction at government projects has remained slow, resulting in limited finished steel demand. Ongoing monsoons and elevated prices also affected demand.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled unchanged at $550/mt cfr Chattogram. Most sellers were only interested to sell in Pakistan, where prices were more lucrative than other South Asian markets. A mill in Bangladesh booked a small quantity at the index price.
Most offices, industries, and factories are either closed or operating with a limited workforce. Transportation and banking activities have also been affected, resulting in either withdrawal or lowering of bids for ferrous scrap. Some distressed sellers also sold material at lower prices.
In a silent market, the daily index for US-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) dropped by $2.5/mt to $523.75/mt cfr Chattogram. The daily indexes for UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $2/mt to $513/mt cfr Chattogram, while the index for Australia-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) fell by $1/mt to $522/mt cfr Chattogram.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Latin America, Tuesday, dropped by $3/mt to $507/mt cfr Chattogram. Bids were in the range of $500-505/mt cfr Chattogram following the softness in global scrap prices.
Domestic steel prices for rebar and billet were unchanged. Domestic scrap prices were firm on high scrapped vessels offers of above $620-630/ldt cnf Chattogram for shipbreakers.
($1=BDT84.79)