Bangladeshi mills stay silent despite sharply fall in offer prices. Domestic steel prices continued to decline further limiting mills’ scrap purchases. A $25/mt drop in the global bulk scrap offers following a recent deal from a UK-based yard to Turkey, most buyers have gone await correction ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $442.5/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $10.71/mt. Early in the week, an increase in demand lifted asking prices to $450-460/mt cfr Chattogram, however, a sharp drop in bulk market pulled containerised shredded bids by around $20/mt on Wednesday.
The daily Davis Index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of US-origin settled at $420/mt cfr Chattogram, down by $8.75/mt. Mills resisted offers of $420-430/mt cfr Chattogram for HMS 1&2 (80:20). Some mills target $400/mt cfr levels to resume restocking, while others indicated a possibility of staying away till the end of Chinese holidays.
Offers for Dubai-origin #1 HMS heard at $390-400/mt cfr Chattogram for ready to ship cargoes. With Indian buyers bidding lower than the other two subcontinental markets, some Dubai suppliers opted to sell ready containers to Bangladesh.
The daily index for containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) of Latin-origin settled at $425/mt cfr Chattogram. Most yards focused on domestic sales where demand and prices are relatively higher. Indications of HMS #1 from Chile were at around $435-445/mt cfr Chattogram.
In the bulk market, Japanese #2 HMS in small bulk traded at $425/mt cfr Chattogram, sharply down from the prior deal. The US-based yards quoted $455-465/mt cfr Chattogram for a mix of shredded and HMS 1&2 (80:20).
Domestic steel under pressure
Prices for shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S are at BDT37,500-38,000/mt ($442-448/mt) ex-yards. Medium-scale mills in Dhaka lowered offers for rebar by BDT500-1,000/mt to BDT57,000-57,500/mt ex-works with t-he possibility of prices reaching below BDT55,000/mt ex works in the coming days.
Large scale steelmakers might have to cut their rebar base offers to revive sales. Their rebar prices could drop by BDT4,000-5,000/mt.
($1=BDT84.61)