Few Indian ferrous scrap importers managed to book HMS trades on Tuesday as offers fell to match their bids, while many stayed away waiting for a further decline in offers.
Dubai-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) has dropped over $40/mt since January 11. Only UAE-origin trades materialised as longer delivery periods of 25-60 days made offers from other regions unattractive. Traders and indenters have stopped accepting offers from distant countries like the UK, US, Australia and Africa amid high offer price.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $458.75/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, down by $10/mt from Monday. Imported scrap offers have dropped over $20-25/mt in the last two days on global cues, yet most buyers decided to stay away from purchasing ferrous scrap. Buyers were unwilling to book high grades, including shredded. A couple of firm offers for shredded from US-based suppliers were heard at $460-465/mt cfr India, but buyers remained silent.
Domestic HMS 1&2 (80:20) on Tuesday was in the range Rs28,500-29,000/mt ($392/mt) delivered Mumbai and Chennai mill. Given the delays in sea-borne shipment, mills preferred domestic HMS over imported.
Continuing a downtrend, Dubai-based sellers started offering materials at lower levels to match bids from Indian mills. The Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Tuesday, settled at $405/cfr Nhava Sheva down by $11/mt from Monday.
HMS scrap has finally shown signs of returning to below $400/mt cfr Nhava Sheva levels on Tuesday. Prices have dropped over $20-30/mt in the past few days. Declining offers for #1 HMS at $410-420/mt cfr Nhava Sheva, mills bids below $395-400/mt cfr Nhava Sheva on Tuesday.
A few trades for low quality and CI-GI mixed HMS 1&2 (80:20) heard at $385-390/mt cfr Nhava Sheva. Most buyers opted for domestic scrap, which is easily available in good quantities and at lower prices. A bid for Turning scrap heard at $360-365/mt cfr Nhava Sheva.
In China, steel prices have dropped and are expected to remain under pressure in mid-February on account of the Chinese New Year holidays from Feb 12-19. Lockdown in the steelmaking province of Hebei is leading to piling-up of inventories. On Tuesday, Q235 150mm square billets prices in China remained stable at CNY3,810/mt ($586/mt) ex-works Tangshan including 13pc VAT.
Indian mills offered billets at $575-580/mt fob India as indications from the Southeast Asian billet buyers remained below $590/mt cfr SE Asia from Chinese and Russian suppliers.
Subcontinent
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $452.2/mt cfr India subcontinent, down by $9.45/mt from Monday. The index for containerized US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $418.57/mt cfr India subcontinent, down by $11.03/mt. Many shipping lines are still struggling with containers shortage leading to a rise in international freight rates.
($1=Rs73.14)