Pakistan: Imported scrap trades slow down on sluggish finished steel market

Imported scrap prices in Pakistan have come down by $10/t w-o-w due to recent high seas cargo being traded at lower prices. Majority of Pakistan-based steel mills are postponing their scrap purchase due to adequate inventories and hence trade activities have remained on the lower side.

Imported scrap market seems under pressure. Hence, buyers are only booking the bare minimum as per their requirement, SteelMint learned from its trade sources.

“Around 5,000 t of shredded in containers have been booked at $457-458/t CFR basis towards the end of last week. Few buyers are bidding at $455 levels and are holding back from booking material. Loaded cargoes in high seas are creating pressure”, shared a Pakistan-based trader.

• SteelMint’s assessment for the UK/EU origin containerised shredded stands at $456/t CFR Qasim levels, down by $12/t w-o-w.
• Imported shredded offers are now being cited at $450-460/t CFR levels.
• Fresh offers for Dubai origin HMS1 are being cited at $435-440/t CFR Qasim level, down by $5-10 w-o-w.

According to the current market situation, traders would even sell the material at $450 range as their material is already in sea and limited buyers are available in the market. Only major mills are booking along with a few mini-mills carrying limited stock as finished market is not picking up. On other hand, as an alternative, local scrap is available at a lower price, SteelMint learnt.

Domestic rebar prices remain stable: Domestic steel market situation is sluggish. Rebar grade-60 rates are now stable due to imported scrap prices. On the other side, local scrap and billets rates have moved down from last week due to the billing period.

According to SteelMint assessment, prices for G-60 rebar in Punjab region stand stable at PKR 130,000/t exw, stable w-o-w. However, domestic semi-finished prices have dropped significantly by PKR 5,000/t levels and around 3,000 t of billet has been booked at PKR 110,000/t exw basis.

Outlook: Market is waiting for pending Turkish deals for March that would impact the current scrap market scenario.