Driven by high imported ferrous scrap prices, leading steelmakers in Bangladesh raised rebar and billet prices by upto BDT2,500/mt ($30/mt) from the last week. Mills are relieved by the fact that government will not impose a lockdown to control the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic amid news of vaccine availability by mid-Jan.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $389.79/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $4.08/mt from Friday. Trades for shredded scrap reported at $390/mt cfr Chattogram with offers climbing up to $395-400/mt cfr Chattogram. A few buyers return to the market on Monday with bids for shredded at $390/mt cfr Chattogram amid a rise in domestic scrap prices. Most European suppliers are shying away fresh offers indicating they might stay away from the market on account of the usual winter break starting in the second week of December.
“Bangladesh has woken up very late when all suppliers are likely to stop for the winter break and most materials have already exhausted. Late last week, there were a lot of inquiries in the market, however, supply is very tight and only a few mills are able to secure material. Costlier scrap from both melting and rolling market, left producers with no choice than raise their steel prices to pass on high input cost,” said a trader.
The weekly Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $367.86/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $2.41/mt from Friday. Few offers were at $370-372/mt cfr Chattogram on Monday from Australia and the US, differing by quality. Some mills are avoiding imports from the US and UK due to delays in shipment amid tight vessel space.
The daily index for Latin America-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $367/mt cfr Chattogram, up by $4/mt from Friday. Offers for Latin American mix HMS #1 and P&S at $370-375/mt cfr Chattogram, while a few containers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) were booked at $365-367/mt cfr Chattogram from Australia, New Zealand and Chile-origin. Domestic markets in Latin America are firming up amid a recovery in steel demand, which has lead to suppliers reducing exports.
Billets and rebar prices soar
On Monday, high input costs pushed up domestic billet prices by BDT1,500-2,000/mt to BDT48,000-48,500/mt ($566-572/mt) ex-works Chattogram from Friday. A few steelmakers in Dhaka offered billet as high as BDT49,000/mt ex-works including local taxes and VAT. Steelmakers canceled discounts on most products. Billet prices thus have risen by BDT8,000-8,500/mt since early November.
Large scale steelmakers like AKS and BSRM raised rebar prices to BDT58,500-60,000/mt ex-works to encourage sales amid weak demand. Following suit, medium and small-scale producers hiked prices by BDT2,000-2,500/mt.
Domestic and shipbreaking scrap
Domestic shipbreaking scrap equivalent to P&S rose BDT500-1,000/mt to BDT37,500-38,000/mt ex-yards Chattogram from last week on global cue. Offers for scrapped vessel imports rose to $390-400/ldt amid delays in arrival due to seasonal concerns. Prices surged with the end of the two-month-old Bangladeshi cartel, however, Pakistani buyers remained competitive.
($1= BDT84.68)