Pakistani mills placed the most competitive bids for containerized scrap attracting sellers’ attention. Most yards diverted supplies to Pakistan. The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Thursday, settled at $541/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $2.25/mt. Deals for UK-origin containerized shredded reported at $540-543/mt cfr Qasim. Sellers raised expectations to over $545-548/mt cfr Qasim, following a gradual recovery of steel demand in Pakistan.
Steel prices have increased sharply since Monday on high input costs and the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee. Rebar prices rose by PKR5,000/mt ($31/mt), followed by a similar rise of over PKR5,000/mt in domestic scrap prices. This boosted the appetite for ferrous scrap imports. In the containerized market, offers to Pakistan rose by $5/mt despite slow demand in India and Bangladesh.
Major rebar producers including Amreli, Agha, Faizan, Abbas and Naveena steel in Karachi have hiked prices by PKR5,000/mt ($31/mt), effective July 7. Large steelmakers in the Northern region including Mughal Steel have also hiked prices. On Thursday, rebar prices rose to PKR155,500-156,000/mt ex-works Karachi and PKR154,500-155,000/mt ex-works Punjab.
In global cues, on Thursday, spot steel prices in China climbed up by CNY20-50/mt ($3-7/mt). Sellers expect support from Turkish mills as they maintain prices for August steel shipments.
Pakistani mills resumed trades for HMS paying at least $30/mt higher than Indian prices. Deals for UAE-origin HMS picked pace as mills raised bids following a supply crunch in the domestic market.
The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Thursday, settled at $495/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $2/mt from a day earlier. Deals for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) reported at around $495/mt cfr Qasim. While offers for mixed #1 HMS and P&S rose to $505-510/mt cfr Port Qasim.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Thursday, settled unchanged at $502.5/mt cfr Port Qasim. Sellers expect prices to rise on improving demand and firm domestic prices in the US market. Container freight rates remained elevated, resulting in increased landed costs.
The Pakistani rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar reaching 159.5 on Thursday from PKR156.9 on July 4, which further pushed up domestic steel and imported scrap prices.
Domestic Bala billet prices jumped by another PKR2,500/mt from a day prior. On Thursday, offers rose to PKR129,500-130,000/mt ($813-816/mt) ex-works. Offers for G-60 billet rose to PKR140,000-140,500/mt ex-works Punjab. A gap between steel prices in the global market and Pakistan could help steelmakers raise prices.
Pure Q toke scrap (equivalent to shredded), Wednesday, traded above PKR101,500-102,000/mt ex-yard Lahore, up by PKR2,000/mt from Wednesday. Offers for domestic Art Q toke scrap (equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S) rose to PKR99,800-100,000/mt ex-yard Lahore amid a slow demolition and ship-breaking activities.
($1=PKR159.43, CNY6.49)