South Asia: Indian scrap buyers still silent; Bangladesh market sees partial resumption of operations

South Asian ferrous scrap prices fell further today. In India, demand for imported scrap remained sluggish due to cheaper domestic alternatives and a significant bid-offer gap resulting in limited transactions. Pakistan's market witnessed need-based buying amid cash crunch and seasonal slowdown.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh saw cautious buyer activity due to ongoing political instability, though recent developments, such as the formation of an interim government, have sparked a gradual market recovery. In contrast, the Turkish scrap market held steady, though mills remained reluctant to purchase, expecting prices to decline further due to high recycler inventories and unfavourable exchange rates.

Overview

India: India's demand for imported scrap remained subdued due to limited buyer interest, the availability of cheaper domestic alternatives, and a gap between bids and offers. Indicative offers for shredded scrap from the US and UK/Europe were at $410-415/t CFR Nhava Sheva, while buyers' workable levels were below or at $400/t CFR. HMS (80:20) offers from the UK/Europe and West Africa were between $380-385/t CFR.

Australian-origin shredded scrap was offered at $405-410/t CFR Mundra and Chennai.

A seller noted, "India is slow, and even when there are inquiries, they aren't at workable levels."

A trader said, "The market is not doing well, with weak demand making it a buyer's market. Offers are around $415-420/t, but workable levels may rise by month-end. Ongoing rains have slowed construction, reducing the demand for rebar and wire-rod."

Pakistan: Pakistan's imported ferrous scrap market experienced need-based buying due to a cash flow crunch and seasonal slowdown, which reduced profitability and lowered production levels. Offers for shredded scrap from the UK/Europe were between $418-420/t CFR Qasim, and $415/t for US-origin scrap, but buyers were hesitant, expecting prices to drop further.

Bangladesh: Bangladeshi buyers continued to remain cautious due to ongoing political turmoil. However, with the formation of an interim government yesterday, the situation is beginning to stabilise. Consequently, a Bangladeshi mill has secured the August Kanto scrap tender comprising 15,000 t of H2 scrap at JPY 47,956/t ($326/t) FAS, marking a drop of around JPY 4,212/t ($27/t) from July's tender price of JPY 52,168/t ($323/t).

According to market reports, buyers have partially resumed bookings, with some container booking concluded from Australia, the US, Chile, and New Zealand.

Turkiye: Turkish imported scrap market remained steady, with US-origin HMS (80:20) scrap offers at $381/t CFR, unchanged d-o-d. Mills expected prices to drop further due to high inventory levels with recyclers who faced pressure to sell quickly to avoid storage costs. Despite this, European recyclers found recent deals unworkable, citing weak inflows and an unfavourable exchange rate.

Around two bulk cargoes were heard to have been booked from the US comprising HMS (90:10) at $381/t CFR and shredded/PNS scraps at $396/t CFR. Another deal was heard to have been concluded at $383/t for HMS (90:10) at $383/t and PNS scraps at $398/t CFR.

Price assessments

India: UK-origin shredded scrap indicatives were assessed unchanged at $415/t CFR Nhava Sheva d-o-d.

Pakistan: UK-origin shredded indicatives were assessed unchanged d-o-d at $420/t CFR Qasim.

Bangladesh: UK-origin shredded prices were assessed at $424/t CFR Chattogram, down by $5/t compared to the last assessed on Monday.

Turkiye: US-origin HMS (80:20) bulk prices were assessed stable today at $381/t CFR Turkiye.