South Asia: Imported ferrous scrap market remains lacklustre on limited enquires

South Asia's imported ferrous scrap market has remained lacklustre today on account of by limited trade activity and stable prices in India and Bangladesh. Pakistan continued to remain inactive for the day due to political instability.

India

Ferrous scrap import prices into India for most-preferred grades like shredded and HMS continued to remain stable due to limited inquiries.

The domestic scrap and semi-finished markets observed a slight price correction and subdued trading.

Market participants, taking note of the global dynamics, held expectations of a potential uptick in market activity this week, anticipating a flurry of active deals. However, there were also some concerns that prices may decline to align with current bids from buyers.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, shredded offers hovered around $445/t level for yet another day. Meanwhile, the market remained inactive due to persisting gloominess attributed to the volatility of the Pakistani currency, PKR.

Furthermore, with the last ten days of the month underway, buyers are primarily focused on domestic sales in accordance with their requirements, all while apprehensive about potential currency devaluations that could further exacerbate the situation.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, liquidity issues and challenges in opening letters of credit resulted in a subdued market with participants awaiting the budget declaration. Market participants showed a preference for Australian and Brazilian material over sources from the UK or Europe. The current market scenario in Bangladesh remains unfavourable due to constraints in foreign reserves. Offers for European shredded and HMS grades were pitched at the same level as the previous day, maintaining stability.

Turkiye

In Turkiye, imported ferrous scrap prices continued to be range-bound as the market activity came to a pause, awaiting the second round of the Turkish presidential election scheduled for 28 May.

Turkish mills consume around 30 mnt/year of steel scrap, of which one-fourth is domestic- a source from Turkiye informed.

"There hasn't been any movement in the markets, everyone is mostly talking about a currency shortage at the moment," another Turkish trader said.

Recent deal

A recent booking of approximately 500 t of shredded scrap from Europe was made at $440/t CNF Nhava Sheva.

Price assessments

• Europe-origin shredded scrap offers into India remained steady d-o-d at $440/t CFR Nhava Sheva.
  
  
• UK-origin shredded scrap prices into Bangladesh stood at $460/t CFR Chattogram, unchanged d-o-d.
  
  
• UK-origin shredded scrap prices into Pakistan stood at $443/t CFR Qasim, largely stable d-o-d.