Bangladesh mills book four bulk scrap cargoes on supportive steel sentiments

• Four bulk cargoes booked from US and EU this week
  
  
• Imported scrap prices up by $15/t in recent deals
  
  
• Mills lift domestic rebar offers on supportive sentiments
  
  

Bangladesh's imported scrap trade in bulk has resumed after a gap of a couple of weeks. Buyers were away from the market earlier in the month, owing to subdued domestic steel market sentiments, and were awaiting fresh offers from scrap yards.

Four bulk cargoes booked

With the recent booking of four bulk cargoes, the bulk imported scrap market has resumed, after around two weeks. Notably, the buyers were more interested in booking US-origin cargoes over Japanese ones. The price disparity between bid-offers kept scrap buyers away from the Japanese market.

• Around 32,000 t of US-origin bulk scrap cargo comprising shredded material was booked at around $550/t CFR Chittagong recently for Mar'22 shipment.
  
  
• A 35,000 t of EU-origin bulk scrap cargo, comprising shredded, bonus and HMS, was booked recently for Mar'22 shipments, sources confirmed. The booking price for shredded was heard at $550/t, and the bonus and HMS were finalised at $545/t and $525/t, CFR Chittagong.
  
  
• A major mill based in Chittagong region booked around 40,000 t of bulk US-origin cargo, consisting of HMS 1&2 (80:20) and shredded. However, details remained unconfirmed.
  
  
• Another deal concluded for 32,000 t of shredded and HMS 1&2 (80:20) material was heard by the same steel mill.
  
  

The prices have increased significantly against the last US bulk deal reported by SteelMint on 12 Jan'22 wherein 32,000 t of US-origin bulk HMS cargo comprising shredded material was booked at around $515/t CFR Chittagong.

Container market quiet

With active bulk bookings done, end-users remained less active in the containerized market. However, some mid-size mills book material as per their requirements.

• UK/EU-origin containerized shredded scrap is being offered at $570-575/t CFR Chittagong, slightly down by $5/t w-o-w.
  
  
• HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UK/EU is being offered at $530-535/t CFR Chittagong, unchanged w-o-w.
  
  

Domestic rebar offers up: The domestic market climbed up with some improvement in construction activities. Rebar offers from major mills have risen to BDT 78,000-79,000/t exw Chittagong ($904-915/t), up by BDT 1,000-2,000/t after witnessing stability for three consecutive weeks. In the Dhaka market, offers for the same are at BDT 73,000-74,000/t ($846-858/t).

In the interim, the country's domestic shipyard scrap prices remain stable at BDT 54,000/t, exy Chittagong.