Pakistani importers actively sought containerized offers amid a spike in ferrous scrap prices, globally, triggered by the recent Turkish bulk deals. With suppliers refusing to budge, importers finally accepted offers $15/mt higher than late last week. Shortage of containers and lowered collection rates ahead of winter pushed offers up significantly.
The Davis Index for containerized shredded, Tuesday, moved up by $16.33/mt to $356.04/mt cfr Port Qasim. Several trades for containerized EU and UK-origin shredded were reported at prices between $354-358/mt cfr Port Qasim. On Tuesday, most offers from the EU and UK were at $355-360/mt cfr Port Qasim, reaching the highest since December 2018. Buyers had no options but to accept higher tags. Most suppliers are now holding their materials in order to secure higher prices in the next few weeks.
Also, the volume being offered has dropped drastically amid short supply and expectation of higher prices later in the year. If this trend continues prices might gain another $20-30/mt in December and January, said a trader.
The Davis Index for UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled at $336/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $8/mt from Thursday. Mills preferred shredded over HMS scrap to avoid paying extra taxes imposed on the imports of the latter. Offers for containerized Dubai-origin mixed #1 HMS and P&S sarya scrap were at $340-345/mt cfr Port Qasim on Tuesday. Dubai-based suppliers preferred Indian buyers where domestic demand and prices are comparatively high.
The index for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) Tuesday settled at $335.42/mt cfr Port Qasim, up by $10/mt from Thursday. Most European supplier countries are under lockdown due to the second and third waves of COVID-19. Offers for the grade from the US and UK in containers were above $340/mt cfr Port Qasim.
Domestic scrap rose on high imported tags
Despite bullishness in imported scrap, mills have been unable to raise steel prices as demand is under pressure. Bala billet prices were at PKR91,500-91,800/mt ($579-581/mt) ex-works Punjab. Offers for rebar from leading Karachi producers were unchanged from the prior week at PKR109,500-110,000/mt ex-works. In Punjab, mills kept their G-60 rebar offers above PKR109,000-109,500/mt ex-works.
Domestic Pure Q toke scrap, equivalent to shredded sold at PKR71,000-71,200/mt del Lahore mill, up sharply by PKR1,000/mt from the prior Tuesday.
($1=PKR158.1)