Weekly round-up: Mixed sentiments prevail in global ferrous scrap market

The global ferrous scrap market showed mixed trends as the major market driver, Turkiye, remained slow as compared to last week's busy trend. The resumption of buying by Pakistani mills was due to easing Letter of Credit (LC) openings. Similarly, in the Bangladesh market, small deals from different origins were concluded throughout the week.

The Indian ferrous scrap market remained slow as no major deals happened due to high offers and scrap availability in the domestic market.

Turkiye's imported scrap offers rise, trade remains slow: The Turkish imported scrap market witnessed mixed sentiments this week amid diverging offers and bids. Suppliers were bullish on the market and kept their offers high. Some deals were being negotiated and may result in their closures soon.

SteelMint's daily assessment for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US stood at $460/t CFR Turkiye, slightly down w-o-w.

Indian ferrous scrap market remains slow w-o-w: Indian imported ferrous scrap remained sluggish due to high offers in the global scrap market, whereas, minimal deals in containers took place throughout the week.

Recently, major ports in India like Chennai received around 28,000 t of bulk ferrous scrap booked by a major South Indian steelmaker. Furthermore, buyers are not willing to purchase scrap at the current price level amid costlier imported material.

SteelMint's assessment for imported shredded scrap in containers stood at $470-75/t CFR, down by $5-8/t w-o-w.

Imported scrap inquiries improve in Bangladesh: Bangladeshi steel mills have raised their bids for bulk scrap vessels following easing up of LCs' opening issues along with limited scrap inventory at mills, SteelMint learnt from sources.

Fresh indicative offers for bulk Japanese H2 are at $480-485/t CFR, up by $15-18/t w-o-w.

On the other hand, offers for US-origin bulk HMS material are at $490/t CFR Chittagong. However, fresh deals are yet to conclude.

Pakistan's imported scrap market active: The imported scrap market in Pakistan remained gloomy yet saw minimal bookings. A total of 5,000 t of containerised shredded scrap grade of Europe origin has been booked at a price range of $480-$490/t on CFR Pakistan.

SteelMint's assessment for imported shredded scrap in containers is $490/t CFR. It inched down by $4-6/t w-o-w.

Japanese scrap export offers inch down w-o-w: The scrap export market in Japan has experienced a mixed trend this week. With respect to Kanto's export tender last week at high prices, South Korean mills bade for the Japanese material. SteelMint's assessment on Japanese H2 price is at JPY 54,500/t ($412/t), down JPY 1,000/t w-o-w.

China's Shagang steel revises scrap purchase price twice: China's Shagang Steel has cut ferrous scrap purchase prices by RMB 50/t ($7/t) for all grades, effective 16 March, 2023. After the revision, HMS (6-10 mm) prices are at RMB 3,230/t ($470/t), delivered to headquarters, including 13% VAT.

Imported scrap prices to Vietnam continue to rise w-o-w: Vietnam's ferrous scrap market observed bullish moods in the global market specifically in Turkiye and Japan's Kanto scrap tender. In this context, Vietnamese steel mills increased their bids slightly. However, these are yet to match market price levels.

Japanese H2 scrap was offered at around $455-460/t CFR Vietnam. Prices moved up significantly by $10-15/t w-o-w, whereas, bids hovered around $450/t CFR.