Indian ferrous scrap offers maintained an uptrend despite weak demand this week. Supplies remain tight globally. Mills bought domestic materials and imports remain limited as offers rose by $40-50/mt from early November. A few states in the country are dealing with renewed COVID-19 restrictions which could hamper finished steel demand in the next few weeks.
Shipments booked earlier are expected to arrive late-November, easing the supply crunch in the market. Shipping lines are rushing to secure empty containers from the US to Asia route. Steel demand has improved globally, especially in the Asian markets, where mills need more scrap to ramp up production. While in supplier countries like US, there is a strong domestic demand for ferrous scrap, which has reduced volumes but pushing up prices of export offers.
In Turkey, the Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose to $349.95/mt cfr Turkey, rising $15.48/mt from last week. Most suppliers focused on catering to the Turkish bulk market and diverted supplies from Asian markets to Turkish on short supply.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded on Friday settled at $367.14/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $3.08/mt from Thursday and $8.85/mt from a week ago. Trades for shredded from the US and Europe/UK were in the range of $365-368/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, with offers on Friday largely at $370-372/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. A few offers reported at $375/mt cfr Chennai. Indian buyers continued shredded scrap trades to maintain just-in-time inventories as prices hit 28-month high.
The Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $352/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $10/mt from November 20. Trades continued to materialise every other day at higher prices on sustained demand. Offers for containerized #1 HMS without the cast and galvanized iron from Dubai were above $355-360/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, with a few deals reported at $355/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
The Davis Index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $353.33/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday, up by $13.33/mt from prior Friday. Offers for the grade in containers heard at 353-355/mt cfr Nhava Sheva amid short supply, depending on quality. There are no offers from the US and Australian bulk suppliers. Offers from the US suppliers were very limited amid Thanksgiving holiday. Shipping lines rejecting deliveries due to container shortage along with vessel delays, which resulted in some order cancellations.
Trades for containerized Australian HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $355/mt cfr Chennai with an index rising $16/mt from Nov 20. A few trades for Australia and the UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $345-350/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, with suppliers holding onto material expecting a $10/mt hike in the coming days. HMS suppliers from South Africa and West Africa were away on permit issues and restricted inflows.
Major steelmaker Sail announced its third successive price hike while other leading rebar makers like Guardian near Mumbai and Kalika in Jalna, Maharashtra raised asking rates to accommodate high ferrous scrap prices.
The index for #1 Busheling grade settled at $384/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $18/mt from the prior week. Trades for Busheling reported at an index price. The weekly index for Turning scrap was at $319/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $14/mt from last week, with offers above $320-325/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Friday. P&S scrap traded at $370/mt cfr Nhava Sheva in thin quantities, with the index for the grade rising by $12/mt from the prior Friday.
Chinese finished steel prices reversed and started rising again on Friday. Indian mills stayed away from bulk billet exports amid expectations of higher realization in the domestic market. Chinese producers offered domestic billets at CNY3,620/mt ex-Tangshan, up by CNY30/mt from a day ago.
Subcontinent
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Friday, settled at $367.37/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $2.57/mt from Thursday. The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $352.37/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $2.09/mt from Thursday.
Japan domestic
Effective Nov 28, Japan’s Tokyo Steel lifts ferrous scrap purchase prices by JPY1,000/mt ($9.6/mt) only at Utsunomiya. Prices remained unchanged at the other four works. Revised H2 price at JPY28,500/mt ($274/mt) delivered plant Utsunomiya in the Kanto region. This is the seventh successive hike announced by the company. #2 HMS prices delivered Tahara at JPY32,000/mt, Okayama at JPY31,500/mt, Kyushu at JPY30,000/mt, Utsunomiya at JPY28,500/mt and Takamatsu steel centre at JPY29,000/mt, respectively.
($1=Rs73.97, JPY104.13)