Pakistan: Imported scrap market quiet amid holidays

Pakistan remained closed for the weekend due to the Eid-al-Fitr holidays. Some market players are likely to remain away for the week.

But the scrap buyers are looking for market clarity. Steelmakers are waiting for the next round of Turkish deals to be completed, which may give some price direction. Yet, negative domestic market sentiments, increased electricity charges, and an unstable currency exchange rate remain unsupportive to steel producers.

SteelMint's assessment for imported shredded scrap in containers stood at $460/t CFR, unchanged w-o-w.

The domestic finished steel market remained sluggish and may remain closed for the next week due to the Eid holidays. However, steel producers are hopeful that demand from end-users may improve in the aftermath of the holidays, SteelMint learnt from market sources.

Offers for deformed grade 60 rebars (10-12 mm) remained unchanged at PKR 265,000-270,000/t exw ($933-951/t), including taxes. Prices have come down due to low demand. However, official offers from steel mills remain high.

Nevertheless, domestic scrap prices remained unchanged from last week. The current offers for local scrap hover at around PKR180,000-185,000/t ($634-651/t) exy (equivalent to shredded) levels.

Further, Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue revised the minimum supply rate of locally-produced steel products for payment of sales tax on an ad valorem basis. The rates of long steel products have been fixed at PKR 225,000/t ($803/t) and steel scrap at PKR 160,880/t ($574/t). If the supply value is higher than the value fixed herein, the sales tax shall be charged on the higher value, the notification said.