Indian Mill Books 32,000 MT Bulk Scrap Vessel from USA

SteelMint learned from industry participants that following the increase in inquiries for bulk scrap by Indian steelmakers last week, a bulk cargo vessel for mixed grade ferrous scrap was concluded at around closing of last week, as steelmakers in Gujarat look to restock for their inventories for November at low prices in the current market.

In a confirmed deal concluded in the latter half of last week, a USA (west coast) based prominent yard sold a bulk vessel to a Gujarat based steelmaker, comprising of 25,000 MT of Shredded scrap and 7,000 MT of Bonus scrap for a total of 32,000 MT of cargo at an average price of USD 261/MT CFR Kandla. The shipment is expected for November 2019.

Last week, the said USA based supplier had also sold a Bulk vessel to to a major Chittagong based steelmaker in Bangladesh, comprising of 32,000 MT of Shredded scrap at USD 265/MT, CFR Chittagong, for November shipment. Prior to this in the 1st week of Sep'19, another 2 Chittagong-based mills had booked a bulk vessel each with mixed grade scrap, from the same USA based supplier.

Containerized scrap prices have been falling in all South Asian markets since last several weeks, however buying activities have picked up since the last week. Offers for containerized shredded from North America and Europe currently stand at around USD 255/MT CFR Nhava Sheva and USD 270/MT CFR Chittagong for India and Bangladesh respectively. Few participants argued that with many suppliers withholding their offers for next month amid currently unfavorable bids, may signal a bottoming out in global scrap prices, however, the market is watching the global trend carefully.