Indian steel mills accepted higher imported ferrous scrap offers amid an uptick in demand as buyers restored to restocking. Trades for HMS scrap concluded at higher prices but at a slow pace.
In Turkey, US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices rose to $287/mt cfr Turkey in recent deals pushing the index up by $2/mt from a prior day and up in total $4/mt from a short-term bottom at $283/mt cfr Turkey on Oct 9.
Turkish mills have received bulk orders from Southeast Asian markets for rebar at $470-472/mt cfr SE Asia, creating a room for scrap prices to climb another $5-10/mt in the coming days. Many traders are optimistic about prices in South Asia as well.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded on Wednesday settled at $308.88/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up $2.75/mt from Tuesday. Offers for UK-origin shredded were at $310-312/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. But mills were interested in $305-307/mt cfr Nhava Sheva levels from EU- and Australia-origin. A few deals concluded at these levels.
The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from UAE, Wednesday, settled at $292/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $2/mt from Tuesday. Deals for Dubai-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $290-292/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Some offers were even heard at $295-300/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $5/mt from late last week. Offers for containerized #1 HMS from Dubai were above $300-305/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Scrap grade #1 HMS traded at $297/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
In the domestic market, with demand on the path of recovery, mills have returned to the market paying slightly higher for HMS scrap than the prior week. The secondary steel sector, however, is still struggling with weak rebar demand from the real estate and construction sectors in some areas.
No bulk trade for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) materialized as buyers refused to bid above $295/mt cfr Kandla against offers of $300-305/mt cfr Kandla on Friday.
Export market positive
In the export market, mills targeted $450-455/mt cfr Southeast Asia or $430-435/mt fob for square billets in line with rising Chinese prices. Although Chinese iron ore prices have been softening due to winter production curbs since Oct 1 and import ban on coking coal from Australia amid trade tensions, the domestic rebar and HRC prices also rose amid increased restocking.
Most West Coast-based steelmakers have received many orders for semi-finished and finished steel exports which will keep sentiments supported for ferrous scrap demand.
Subcontinent
Expectations of recovery in ferrous scrap trades in Asian markets kept subcontinental indexes on an uptrend. The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Wednesday, settled at $302.26/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $2.58/mt from Tuesday. The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $284.55/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $2.55/mt.
($1=Rs73.31)