Amid weak global cues, many suppliers showed a willingness to lower their asking prices and meet the present bid levels on Monday.
In the domestic scrap market, however, prices registered an uptick of Rs200/mt at the minimum, with demand on the path to recovery. The secondary steel sector, however, is still struggling with weak rebar demand from the real estate and construction sectors.
Inquiries gained momentum with China returning to the market. Chinese domestic rebar and HRC prices also increased with the resumption of restocking the Golden Week Holiday. This is likely to support Asian buyers further in the coming days. For November deliveries, however, Baosteel has cut HRC prices by CNY100/mt ex-works ($15/mt), which could have a bearing on the Asian billet and HRC markets.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded settled at $305.61/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down $0.02/mt from Friday. A few trades late last week of UK-origin shredded were at $304-305/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. On Monday, a gap of around $5-7/mt between offers and bids resulted in a stalemate. Offers of shredded by UK yards were in the range of $310-315/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, with low to no bids in the market.
Imported HMS scrap offers failed to keep the gain of $5-7/mt from last week. Most Indian steel mills refused the present offer levels. Their counter bids in the bulk market declined by $10/mt following global cues.
The Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) of UAE-origin, Monday, settled at $288/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, up by $1/mt from Friday. Deals for Dubai-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were at $285-290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva with some offers heard at $295/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, unchanged from late last week. Offers for containerized #1 HMS from Dubai, however, were above $300-305/mt cfr Nhava Sheva against bid levels of $290/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. The gap between Dubai HMS and imported shredded has narrowed considering that shredded prices have maintained only a gradual rise.
Recovery in China’s HRC and scrap market after the holiday was better than expected and has rekindled hopes of better export prices. Steel export prices could remain firm for another 10-15 days before the market comes under pressure, believe traders.
In the bulk market, no trade for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) materialized as buyers refused to bid above $295/mt cfr Kandla against firm offers of $300-305/mt cfr Kandla on Friday.
Subcontinent
Expectations of recovery in ferrous scrap demand in Asian markets has given subcontinental indexes a lift on Monday. The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Monday, settled at $298.10/mt cfr India subcontinent, up by $0.52/mt from Friday. The Davis Index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) Monday was at $279.69/mt cfr India subcontinental, up by $0.69/mt.
($1=Rs73.34)