As the global scrap market began to recover last week, imported scrap offers to Pakistan rebounded considerably since yesterday. Many buyers are looking to promptly close bookings and suppliers on the other hand offering less material till prices settle. Temporary stalling of construction projects on corona-virus risks kept domestic steel’s project sales very low.
SteelMint’s assessment for Shredded 211 scrap from UK/Europe currently stands in the range of USD 286-290/MT CFR, rebounding by USD 7-9/MT against the offers assessed at the closing of the last week at and below USD 280/MT CFR levels. The quick rebound in offers led to few mills swiftly closing the bookings and securing some material at favorable prices.
Yesterday several bookings for Shredded were concluded at USD 285-286/MT CFR, however by the end of the day, most sellers had withdrew their offers at those levels amid further rise. Few sellers were reported to hold back till further corrections before offering to Pakistan, while many buyers agreed to not having many offers in the market presently.
HMS offers from UAE declined by over USD 5/MT on a weekly basis, amid downward market and slow inquiries from buyers. HMS 1 super from Dubai is currently being offered at around USD 280-285/MT CFR Qasim, against USD 275-280/MT levels last week, while few offers of HMS sarya/PnS have climbed up to USD 293-295/MT CFR after few bookings last week.
Domestic scrap and steel prices unchanged – With the domestic market sentiments remaining slow on limited demand, the offers prices for local scrap, billet and finished steel bars remained stable on a weekly basis. Amid an already slow market, the corona-virus risk induced slowdown in infrastructural projects has made things difficult for mills across the nation with production cuts continuing, particularly by Punjab based steelmakers.
In the northern region, rebar’s average offer prices were reported at around PKR 105,000-106,000/MT, ex-works (USD 679-686), while southern (Karachi region) steel mills are offering at PKR 107,000/MT (USD 692) ex-works, stable and flat for around 4 weeks now, amid the severely slow demand from end users.
| (Average Offer Prices) | 11 Feb’20 | Last Assessment on 04 Feb’20 | Change W-o-W |
| PKR/MT | PKR/MT | PKR | |
| Local Scrap (Equivalent to Shredded) | 65000 | 65000 | 0 |
| Bala (Local Billet) | 84000 | 84000 | 0 |
| CC Billet (Grade 40) | 90000 | 90000 | 0 |
| CC Billet (Grade 60) | 91000 | 91000 | 0 |
| Deformed bar (G-60), Ex-Punjab/KPK | 105,000-106,000 | 105,000-106,000 | 0 |
| Deformed bar (G-60), Ex-Sindh (Karachi) | 106,000-107,500 | 106,000-107,500 | 0 |
Source: SteelMint Research
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