South Asia: Imported scrap offers remain stable amid limited enquiries

Today, the South Asian imported ferrous scrap market was sluggish, while offers remained relatively steady. However, Pakistan was an exception.

Market overview

India: Today, the demand for imported ferrous scrap in India remained subdued, with limited market activity because of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Offers for shredded scrap from Europe were assessed at $426-428/t CFR Nhava Sheva, while HMS (80:20) scrap was heard at $412-414/t CFR. Offers for shredded scrap from Europe to Chennai were at $430-431/t CFR, and HMS (80:20) was presented at $414-416/t CFR. West African shredded were at $410-412/t on CFR Nhava Sheva basis.

The market is likely to remain slow this week. Small tonnage deals have been concluded, however, the majority of these are trader deals. Thus, prices seem unusual compared to that of the real market price, SteelMint learnt from an Indian buyer source.

Pakistan:The demand for imported scrap in Pakistan was dull today. Offers for shredded scrap from Europe were heard at $430-435/t CFR Qasim.

In the domestic market, due to the appreciation of PKR against the US dollar, demand is slow. Buyers anticipate a decrease in prices, but the supply situation at the manufacturers' end remains under pressure, partly due to the increase in diesel rates and other factors.

Local scrap offers are being heard at PKR 170,000-175,000/t, while rebar offers were at PKR 280,000-285,000/t.

Bangladesh: The imported ferrous scrap market is currently weak amid persisting problems with opening Letters of Credit (LCs) and forex issues.

Additionally, local sentiments are less than favourable. Furthermore, the value of local ship scrap has also declined.

Offers for shredded were at $440/t CFR Chattogram, with bids hovering around $433-435/t, while HMS (80:20) was at $420/t CFR.

Turkiye: Turkish scrap prices faced downward pressure due to challenges in selling steel products faced by local mills. This was compounded by cautious buying ahead of the Turkish central bank's interest rate decision on 21 September which could impact the Turkish lira's value.

Despite some scrap suppliers diverting sales to alternative markets like India, a further softening of the deep-sea scrap market was anticipated, especially from EU suppliers. Most market players did not foresee any immediate increase in scrap prices.

Turkish HMS (80:20) from the US in bulk were at $375/t CFR, down $2/t d-o-d. A Turkish mill secured a deal recently for US-origin HMS (80:20) at $375/t CFR, along with shredded and bonus scrap at $395/t. Baltic-origin HMS (80:20) prices may decline to $372-$373/t CFR in Turkiye initially, according to trader sources.

Recent deals

• A 3,000 t-mix parcel of LMS and HMS bundle from Yemen was booked at $410/t and $365-370/t CFR West Coast India
  
  
• About 1,000 t of UK-origin HMS were procured at $414/t CFR West Coast India
  
  
• Approximately 1,500 t of UK-origin shredded scrap were secured at $438/t CFR Qasim
  
  
• About 1,000 t of shredded scrap were booked at $431-433/t CFR Qasim from Europe
  
  
• Around 500 t of Germany-origin busheling scrap were booked for $456/t CFR West Coast India
  
  

Price assessments

India: UK-origin shredded scrap offers unchanged at $429/t CFR Nhava Sheva today.

Pakistan: UK-origin shredded scrap offers down by $1/t to $432/t CFR Qasim today.

Bangladesh: Offers for UK-origin shredded scrap stable at $440/t CFR Chattogram, d-o-d.

Turkiye: US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) prices down $2/t d-o-d to $375/t CFR Turkiye.

Outlook

Imported ferrous scrap demand is likely to improve once the festival season is over in India; however, prices are expected to remain steady as suppliers are quoting firm offers. It is likely that Pakistan and Bangladesh will experience volatility due to ongoing economic challenges even as the Turkish market remains the centre of global attention.