Imported ferrous scrap offers to Pakistan were firm, Tuesday, but mills resisted high prices after buying shredded at $5/mt lower than sellers expectations were on a prior day.
Pressured by low bids, the daily Davis Index for containerized shredded on Tuesday slipped to settle at $524/mt cfr Qasim, down $1/mt. Trades for containerised shredded concluded at $520/mt, $523/mt and $525/mt cfr Qasim totalling trade volume of over 5,000mt of shredded from the UK and Europe in last two days.
In Turkey, on Tuesday trades for rebar, billet and ferrous scrap are expected to resume after a Victory Day, holiday on Monday.
Following low bids from Indian mills, UAE origin containerised HMS prices declined on Tuesday. The daily Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) inched down by $2/mt to $488/mt cfr port Qasim. Trades for UAE-origin mixed #1 HMS and P&S were reported again at $502-505/mt cfr Port Qasim.
The daily index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged at $487.5/mt cfr Port Qasim on Tuesday. Some sellers were under pressure following initial indications of September domestic monthly bookings in the US to open lower by $10-40/mt than the prior month. Suppliers are targeting high amid container shortage but bids lagged leading to no major trades.
In the domestic market, demand for finished steel is expected to pick up from mid-September as the monsoon recedes and new infrastructural demand emerges in the country.
On Tuesday, August 31, a few leading Pakistani large scale rebar producers including Mughal Steel and Faizan Steel have announced price hike by PKR6,000/mt ($36/mt). The price hike was driven by the Pakistani currency PKR devaluation, shortage of supply and sharp increase in input costing.
Rebar asking prices on Tuesday in Punjab rose to PKR178,500/mt ex works for 10-12mm dia while those for 16-25mm dia mills are quoting PKR176,500/mt ($1,059/mt) ex works. Karachi based rebar producers too expected to announce similar price hike in the coming days.
For domestic Bala billet asking rates on Tuesday were at PKR140,000/mt ($839.3/mt) ex-works, billet prices are expected to rise following rebar prices.
Domestic scrap Art Q toke scrap (equivalent to a mix of HMS and P&S) traded stable at PKR108,800/mt ex-yards while Pure Q toke scrap (equivalent to shredded) at PKR111,200/mt ex-yard Lahore, respectively, amid tight supply.
Demolition activities in the Gadani were slow. Scrapped vessel offers were at $570-590/ldt scaling above buyers’ expectations.
($1=PKR166.72)