Pakistani ferrous scrap importers continued to stay away from purchases waiting for clarity on the global ferrous scrap price direction. Yards in UK/EU are bullish on healthy demand in their domestic markets, but import prices in Turkey were flat on Monday. Mills in Turkey became quiet after completing their ferrous scrap bookings for June shipment and securing most of their volumes for July. As a result, scrap offers at any level attracted minimum interest from mills.
The daily Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, settled at $512.5/mt cfr Port Qasim, down $2.5/mt as buyers refused to book large volumes at high prices. Slow sales despite a hike in rebar price turned mills cautious. But EU/UK suppliers were unwilling to lower their asking prices from $515-520/mt citing tight supply and good prices in their domestic markets.
In Turkey, the widening of the spread between rebar and scrap supported sentiment. Turkish rebar exporters have vantage over other supplier countries as their offers are $100/mt lower than the competition. The Davis index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged from Friday at $513.19/mt cfr Turkey on Monday, with most buyers turning silent.
The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was at $498/mt cfr Port Qasim, down $2/mt. UAE sellers were under pressure to sell HMS at lower prices driven by a sharp drop in Indian bids, which fell over $15-20/mt in a week.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20), Monday, settled at $497.5/mt cfr Port Qasim, down $5/mt. Mills were largely away from US-origin HMS and preferred to secure material from short-transit routes. But should the prices come under pressure due to a decline in Turkish demand, mills could increase inquiries for material from the US.
In the domestic market, offers for Pure Q Toke priced at PKR96,000-96,500/mt ex-yards, up PKR4,500-5,000/mt from pre-Eid holiday levels. Bala billet prices were at PKR117,000-117,500/mt ex-works, while continuous casting billets priced at PKR126,000-127,000/mt ex-works up from PKR117,000-118,000/mt ex-works in the prior Eid trades.
Offers for G-60 rebar at PKR141,000-142,000/mt ex-works Lahore, witnessing a total hike by over PKR10,000/mt post-Eid, while asking prices by small-scale steelmakers for rebar at PKR132,000/mt ex-works Lahore.
($1=PKR152.8)