With numerous deals getting concluded in the last few days, imported scrap prices in Pakistan have increased by around $35 since the beginning of last week. Raw material prices are high both in domestic and imported as well. Pakistan based mills had actively booked containerised shredded scrap, highlighted a Karachi based steelmaker.
Around 15,000-20,000 t of confirmed trades were reported so far this week at $500-510/t CFR Qasim for UK origin shredded, sources have reported. SteelMint’s assessment for the UK/EU origin now stands at $510/t CFR levels, up by $35 against the opening of the last week. Mid-sized steelmakers consider that prices are too high and this week may clear the direction further.
“We are not doing any bookings at the moment, high level offers are not feasible for us. Hopefully, by the end of this week we may have a clearer picture” stressed a major scrap buyer in Pakistan.
Recent offers and deals-
- Around 25,000 t of imported shredded scrap in containers were traded in mid-last week in the range of $490-500/t CFR Qasim basis.
- A decent quantity of Dubai origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) have been booked at $460-465/t basis.
- While in another deal, a decent quantity of Dubai origin PNS has been sold at $455/t CFR levels.
- Current offers for UK /EU origin shredded are reported at around $508-513/t CFR Qasim level.
“UK/EU origin PNS offers are around $490/t, but not workable as local PNS is available at a lower level as compared to the international market” shared a trader.
Pakistan’s ferrous scrap imports fall in Nov’20- Pakistan’s ferrous scrap imports witnessed a drop of 17% m-o-m to 0.38 mn t in Nov’20, as compared to 0.46 mn t in Oct’20, according to customs data maintained with SteelMint. The continuous hike in imported scrap prices during Sep’20-Oct’20 reduced the imported scrap volume. However, imports have increased by 15% y-o-y as compared to 0.33 mn t recorded in Nov’19.
Domestic rebar offers up further, trade prices yet to pick up- Deformed Grade-60 prices further increased to around PKR 5,000-6,000/t on a weekly basis. Major market players are quoting their offers at a higher levels of PKR 138,000-141,000/t exw levels. Whereas, currently, the average selling rate is around PKR 132,000-138,000/t exw level.
Outlook– Mills had stocked up when the prices were favourable and less desperation is seen now amongst the buyers in Pakistan for imported scrap bookings. Hence bookings may slow-down for the rest half of the week. However, steel mills are trying to push rebar offers further to make up for the increase in input costs.
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