Bangladesh: Imported Scrap Prices Fall Following Decline in Global Offers

In conversation with the market participants, SteelMint learnt that trades for imported scrap to Bangladesh have slowed down amid a sharp downturn in global prices. Most buyers are cautiously watching the trend before making any major bookings, while offers have continued to tumble for over 2 months now, currently standing at lowest levels in over 2 and a half years. Domestic market too is reeling under pressure as finished steel prices have fallen further, amid a continued slowdown in sales.

SteelMint's assessment for containerized Shredded scrap from UK, Europe and USA stand s in the range of USD 302-303/MT, CFR Chittagong dropping by a further USD 6-7/MT, against last week's report, however very few deals were reported in the market. A few of the prominent global suppliers have also withheld their offers for this week amid sharp global decline, waiting for some stability in the market.

HMS scrap offers also witnessed a decline amid less activity in the market. HMS 1 from Chile and South African origins was being offered at around USD 295/MT, CFR Chittagong, while HMS 1&2 (80:20) was being offered from Brazil at USD 290/MT CFR. Prices have fallen by USD 7-8/MT over the last 1-2 weeks. Reportedly a few offers for Dubai origin HMS were also heard, at around USD 280-285/MT as per quality.

Low demand for higher quality P&S scrap has resulted in a sharp fall in its offers over a couple of weeks, with Brazil origin P&S currently being reported at around USD 310/MT CFR. Post a flurry of Bulk cargo bookings in the previous 2 weeks by major steel mills, no new bulk bookings were reported for this week yet.

Domestic market continues to observe slowdown, prices fall further - With construction activities yet to pick up amid heavy monsoon and floods in addition to the festival season induced labour shortages, the demand for finished steel remains flat. As per steel prices have declined by around BDT 3,000/MT over last 10-12 days, however, the market is expecting the demand to stabilize by mid-October, post which the prices are likely to settle at a 3-4% higher level.

Offers for shipyard scrap dropped further and currently stands in the range of BDT 31,000-31,500/MT (USD 380-386), ex Chittagong, falling by BDT 1000/MT from last week's report. Ship plate prices in the Chittagong market are hovering around BDT 42,000-43000/MT ex Chittagong, depending on thickness and further fall is expected over the next couple of weeks, on supply-demand gap.