South Asia: Ship-breaking import prices stable w-o-w

Ship-breaking import prices in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan were stable, w-o-w this week. Bangladesh led the price chart in terms of vessels' offers compared to other markets.

Bangladesh leading market

Ship breaking prices in Bangladesh market saw a slight upward trend with a continual rise in bid prices from end-buyers for the available tonnage. The buying interest for mid-sized tonnage was quite high whereas there were very few offers for larger vessels due to elevated price levels.

Deals

Total tonnage reported last week at Chattogram Port was 3,352 light displacement tonnage (LDT), down by 63% w-o-w.

Indian market stable

Domestic steel prices remained volatile last week but saw an upward trend at the end of the week. Although demand was there, most buyers were hesitant to finalise deals at high price levels in fear of any further decline.

The Indian Rupee (INR) is currently trading at Rs. 74.3 against the US dollar.

Deals

Total tonnage at Alang Port last week amounted to 49,096 LDT, up by 70% w-o-w.

Pakistan competes with Bangladesh

Pakistan remained in tight competition with the Bangladeshi in booking vessels.

However, buyers were not interested in bidding high prices for the available tonnage in the market. There has been some delivery concerns which caused some disturbances amongst the recycling community.

Deals

Total tonnage at Gadani Port last week was reported at 51,060 LDT, up by 54% w-o-w.

Prices in $/LDT
Source- SteelMint Research

Outlook

Steel prices are most likely to remain firm across all sub-continent locations and even the Indian market has started gaining momentum with rise in demand for steel products.