Pakistan: Imported scrap trades slow down as market gears up for Ramadan

Pakistan’s imported scrap market has slowed down in last few days. Trades have slowed down with the start of holy Islamic month – Ramadan, however suppliers have continued to hold offers firm citing container freight rate volatility.

“Market is quiet since last 4-5 days. Last deals were concluded at $462-465/t, CFR Port Qasim levels while offers are at $465/t CFR levels. Limited inquiries are surfacing at the moment as Ramadan is starting and trades will remain slow as govt. will restrict working hours. In addition to it, rising COVID cases in Lahore/Islamabad region is another concern bothering local mills as they may suffer partial lockdown” shared a prominent scrap trader in Pakistan.

SteelMint’s assessment for UK/EU origin containerised shredded stands at $463/t CFR Qasim levels, down slightly by $5 against last week’s closing.

Recent trades and offers:

• In a recent trade around 2,000t of shredded from UK/EU has been sold at around $457/t CFR basis
• Earlier last week, Shredded scrap deals in containers were concluded at $462-465/t CFR levels
• Fresh offers for shredded are now hovering around at $465/t CFR Qasim levels, down by $5 w-o-w. Yards are not ready to lower offers unless they feel that container freight charges are stabilizing, SteelMint learnt.
• Offers for Dubai origin HMS (80:20) are at $440-445/t CFR Qasim

“Market scenario will be stable by next week. Currently, situation is like paying high rate for raw material, high taxes, and selling finished steel at low price. Market is in standing position now and will remain the same for next one month as Ramadan starts and after that, the budget period is in June”, sources have highlighted to SteelMint.

Domestic rebar prices inch up: Domestic steel market is slow and rates are firm ahead of Ramadan . The domestic steel market is likely to remain the same next week. According to SteelMint, prices for G-60 rebar in Punjab region are at PKR 132,000/t exw, up by PKR 1000/t w-o-w, whereas, offers are in the range of PKR 131,000-133,000/t exw levels.

Outlook: Imported scrap market has cooled down for a while, but trades are expected to improve next week, SteelMint understands.