South Asia: Imported ferrous scrap offers edge up in Pakistan, Bangladesh

The South Asian ferrous scrap market showed an overall increase, except in India. Indian buyers displayed a lack of interest in imported scrap due to bid-offer disparities and a slowdown in the domestic steel market. Meanwhile, Pakistan experienced a slight uptick in demand despite suppliers raising offers, leading to cautious restocking.

In Bangladesh, buyers showed moderate interest amid adverse weather and rising freight rates, preferring material from Australia and the UAE. Turkish deepsea imported ferrous scrap prices remained unchanged, with sellers facing high collection costs and mills struggling with firm input costs, resulting in mixed near-term price sentiments.

Overview

India: Indian buyers continued to show limited interest in imported scrap due to a disparity between bids and offers, as well as a slowdown in the domestic steel market. Indicative offers for shredded scrap from the UK and Europe remained steady at $410-415/t CFR Nhava Sheva, while buyers were willing to pay $400-405/t CFR.

A representative from a trading house commented, "There's been some upward movement in domestic prices due to a short-term shortage, but imported scrap buying is still not active. We expect that buying will pick up after mid-July. We've heard that workable levels into India have dropped to $410/t CFR for shredded and for HMS at $386-388/t CFR West Coast India ."

Pakistan: In Pakistan, a slight uptick in demand was observed today as suppliers continued to raise offers due to increasing freight rates, prompting buyers to restock. However, the domestic steel market remains slow, leading to cautious procurement. Indicative offers for UK/Europe-origin shredded scrap were assessed at $425-430/t CFR Qasim.

Bangladesh: Bangladeshi buyers showed moderate interest today due to a slowdown in the domestic steel market amid adverse weather. Buyers preferred material from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, but increasing freight rates kept them cautious.

Turkiye: Turkish deepsea imported ferrous scrap prices remained unchanged. Sellers faced high collection costs in Europe, while mills struggled with firm input costs and finished steel exports. Offers for US-origin bulk HMS (80:20) scraps were kept unchanged at $390/t CFR. A US-origin deal was booked by an East Marmara region-based mill comprising HMS(80:20) and shredded scrap at $390/t and $410/t CFR Turkiye, but the price was not seen as repeatable. Mixed sentiments prevailed, with some sources expecting prices to rise due to tight supply, while others anticipated a slight softening due to weak demand.

Price assessments

India: UK-origin shredded scrap indicatives were assessed at $413/t CFR Nhava Sheva, stable d-o-d.

Pakistan: UK-origin shredded indicatives rose by $4/t $429/t CFR Qasim, d-o-d.

Bangladesh: UK-origin shredded prices were kept unchanged at $425/t CFR Chattogram, d-o-d.

Turkiye: US-origin HMS (80:20) bulk prices were assessed at $390/t CFR Turkiye, unchanged d-o-d.