South Asia: Imported ferrous scrap offers see mixed trend with slight revival in demand

The South Asian ferrous scrap market displayed a mixed trend today. There was a slight improvement in demand across markets, although the pace was relatively slow. In India, offers for shredded scrap remained unchanged, while they increased by $2/tonne (t) in Pakistan and by $1/t in Bangladesh d-o-d.

Market overview

India: Today, the demand for imported scrap in India continued to remain slow. European suppliers quoted shredded scrap prices in the range of $395-400/t CFR Nhava Sheva basis. However, the actual tradable price, as reported by buyers, is estimated in the range of $390-395/t CFR.

HMS (80:20) scraps were being offered in the range of $375-380/t CFR Nhava Sheva and $380-385/t CFR Chennai.

NTP scraps from Europe were assessed at around $410-415/t CFR Chennai.

According to a trader, "The current state of market activities is rather sluggish, and this trend is expected to persist due to the upcoming elections in India. There are specific factors that influence trading during elections, including limited money flow and project buyers' tendencies to delay their procurement due to concerns about potential changes in government and related funding."

A mill based in southern India highlighted, "Scrap availability is firm on an individual level, and as a result, buyers are currently showing limited enthusiasm for acquiring new materials due to dull finished steel market."

Pakistan: In Pakistan, there was a marginal improvement in imported scrap demand today. Offers for shredded scrap from Europe were evaluated in the range of $395-400/t CFR Qasim. Buyers' bids, on the other hand, were assessed at $395/t CFR.

In the domestic market, local scrap prices have experienced a slight increase. However, there is a shortage in the market, according to market participants. Local scrap prices were reported to be in the range of PKR 145,000-150,000/t exw.

Bangladesh: The imported ferrous scrap market in Bangladesh is currently in a slow phase. Notably, bulk offers have seen a decline of $4-6/t due to a significant drop in international bulk scrap prices. Specifically, the bulk offer for HMS (80:20) from the US west coast was priced at $395-400/t CFR, shredded scraps were at $405/t CFR, and bonus scraps at $410/t CFR.

H2 scrap offers from Japan for smaller tonnages were assessed at $405-407/t CFR, while HS scrap, which is equivalent to PNS, had offers at $435-437/t CFR.

There were reports of a steel mill securing bulk HMS (80:20) scrap from Australia at $390/t CFR, although the exact quantity was not confirmed at the time of publishing this report.

Containerised shredded scrap offers from Europe were evaluated at $415-416/t CFR Chattogram. Additionally, a few recent deals for HMS (80:20) scraps were concluded from Australia at $390-395/t CFR, though the exact quantities were not disclosed.

It's worth noting that bulk cargoes are priced $5-8/t cheaper in comparison to containerised shipments at the current situation.

Turkiye: The Turkish scrap market is under pressure due to unfavorable conditions in the finished steel segment. Low overall demand in Turkiye's domestic and export markets, particularly in the Middle East due to the Gaza conflict, has kept steelmakers away from deep-sea scrap bookings. Scrap exporters are also not in a hurry to set firm offers, trying to understand where the real market price is. Currently, it is a completely buyer-dominated market, so suppliers will not be able to stick to the desired price

The current scrap-rebar spread stands at $195-200/t, close to the generally anticipated $200/t target by mills.

There are mixed opinions regarding the near-term outlook for the scrap market. Some suggest a bearish sentiment due to lower rebar sales by Turkish mills, while others anticipate a bullish outlook.

Recent deals

• About 1,000 t of shredded scraps from Europe were booked at $416/t CFR Chattogram.
  
  
• Around 1,000 t of HMS (90:10) scraps were procured at $408/t CFR Chattogram from Europe.
  
  
• Approximately 1,000 t of PNS scraps were sourced from Europe at $430/t CFR Chattogram.
  
  
• A 2,500-t parcel of shredded scraps were bought from Europe at $400/t CFR Qasim.
  
  
• About 1,000 t of turning boring scraps were booked from Germany at $379/t CFR Chennai.
  
  
• A parcel of 1,000-t HMS (80:20) scrap were sourced from Australia at $380/t CFR Chennai.
  
  

Price assessments

India: UK-origin shredded scrap offers were assessed unchanged at $392/t CFR Nhava Sheva today.

Pakistan: UK-origin shredded scrap offers were up by $2/t to $397/t CFR Qasim today.

Bangladesh: Offers for UK-origin shredded scrap were assessed at $415/t CFR Chattogram, up by $1/t today.

Turkiye: US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices were assessed at $350/t CFR Turkiye, down by $1/t d-o-d.

Outlook

Looking ahead in the near term, it is expected that imported ferrous scrap offers are likely to remain range-bound. This is primarily due to the fact that the offers have already reached near their lowest levels, and there is an anticipation of a demand recovery. In Pakistan, as winter approaches and with the anticipated decrease in the flow of scrap, a sustained slow supply could potentially result in a scarcity of imported materials. As a consequence, this situation might lead to a slight upward trend in prices.