South Asia: Imported ferrous scrap markets face further downward pressure

• Indian buyers prioritise local scrap due to price parity
  
  
• Pakistani, Bangladeshi buyers remain cautious amid weak liquidity
  
  

The South Asian and Turkish imported scrap markets remained subdued today, reflecting a combination of weak steel demand, financial constraints, and ongoing political and economic challenges.

In India, buyers favoured domestic scrap over imports due to price parity and quicker availability, while Pakistan's market struggled amid political unrest and liquidity concerns. Bangladesh faced similar issues, with mills operating at reduced capacity and anticipating further price drops. Meanwhile, Turkiye's market saw a slight decline in US-origin bulk scrap offers, driven by sluggish finished steel sales and high collection costs, with traders expecting further downward pressure in the coming days.

Overview

India: In India, the demand for imported scrap remained sluggish today due to weak buyer interest amid an unsupportive steel market, bid-offer disparity, and the availability of domestic scrap at comparable prices. Offers for HMS (80:20) from the UK/Europe stood at $360-365/t CFR Nhava Sheva, translating to around INR 30,400-30,800/t, excluding inland freight and port charges of approximately INR 3,000/t. Meanwhile, domestic HMS (80:20) was assessed at INR 32,900/t, almost on par with imported offers. As a result, buyers are opting for domestic material, avoiding the risk of committing to imports that would take 2-3 months to arrive. Shredded scrap from UK/Europe was offered at $380-385/t CFR Nhava Sheva.

Pakistan: Pakistan's imported scrap market remained subdued today, with limited buyer interest due to ongoing political unrest and weak domestic steel demand. Offers for UK/EU-origin shredded hovered around $380-385/t CFR Qasim, but bids stayed lower at $378-380/t CFR, leading to minimal deal activity.

Buyers remained cautious as local market conditions continue to deteriorate, with no signs of a near-term recovery amid transport disruptions and liquidity concerns due to the recent political unrest.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh's imported scrap market remained subdued today amid weak steel demand and limited buyer interest. Offers for EU/UK-origin shredded stood at $385-390/t CFR Chattogram, but bids remained lower as mills operated at just 40-50% capacity. Financial constraints, a volatile taka, and stalled infrastructure projects further dampened sentiment. While a few deals for Malaysian and UAE-origin scrap were reported around $390/t CFR earlier in the week, most buyers stayed on the sidelines, anticipating further price corrections in the near term.

Turkiye: The Turkish imported ferrous scrap market witnessed a slight decline, with prices for US-origin bulk HMS (80:20) offers assessed at $340/t CFR. Bearish sentiments deepened as traders expressed uncertainty about where the downtrend might bottom out, with some expecting levels to drop as low as $320/t CFR. Weak demand for finished steel both domestically and in export markets, coupled with mills focusing on clearing inventories, kept scrap buying interest subdued. The market also faced pressure from high collection costs in Europe, with recyclers predicting further price declines as mills push for lower raw material costs.

A Europe-origin deal was heard to have been concluded by a Mediterranean region mill comprising HMS (80:20) at $332/t CFR.

Price assessments

India: UK-origin shredded indicatives were dropped by $2/t $ d-o-d to $383/t CFR Nhava Sheva.

Pakistan: UK-origin shredded indicatives edged down d-o-d by $1/t to $384/t CFR.

Bangladesh: UK-origin shredded prices remained unchanged at $388/t CFR Chattogram compared to to the previous day.

Turkiye: US-origin HMS (80:20) bulk prices were assessed at $340/t CFR Turkiye, down by $1/t d-o-d.