Pakistan rebar prices up on bullish sentiments, imported scrap offers rise

Domestic steel prices in Pakistan improved this week on the back of bullish market sentiments. Pakistan’s domestic G-60 rebar prices remained at higher levels, crossing PKR 150,000/t exw-Punjab levels.

SteelMint’s assessment for G-60 rebar stands at PKR 151,300/t exw Punjab, up by PKR 4,300/t w-o-w.

The hike in raw material prices at domestic and international levels led to a rise in rebar prices. Trade sources expect rebar prices to rise further in the coming days. Major construction projects would likely sum up the work before the upcoming Eid holidays and monsoon. Thus, steel consumption has increased in the last few days, informed a local player.

Imported scrap prices inch up: Imported shredded scrap offers for Pakistan have increased to $540-550/t CFR Port Qasim levels. SteelMint’s assessment for containerised UK/EU-origin shredded stands at $543/t CFR, up by $1 w-o-w. Limited deals have been reported in the last couple of weeks as few bigger mills had aggressively restocked cargoes last week. However, scrap bookings are likely to increase in the second half of this week owing to the following reasons:

• Ahead of the Eid holidays and with the recent new investment in construction projects, steel mills need to restock scrap to fulfill their requirements.
• Busheling scrap and shredded scrap availability is low due to decline in auto production.
• Domestic scrap prices at leading exporting companies are expected to strengthen further which will lift export offers as well.
• According to the new notification, a material declaration is required to be submitted with all documents from the importer and exporter to avoid unnecessary delays in paying tax.
  
  Recent deal and offers:
  
• Around 1,500 t of shredded have been booked at $537-542/t CFR Qasim basis. Fresh offers for imported scrap remained at $540-550/t CFR levels, mostly stable w-o-w. “The market is likely to remain active for the next 10 days, and could foresee some good number of scrap bookings at these levels ,” said a market insider.
• HMS1 of UAE-origin is being quoted at $495-505/t CFR Qasim levels. “People are more interested in booking HMS over shredded scrap as HMS prices are more workable at the moment,” said a steelmaker.

Domestic scrap prices on uptrend: The domestic market in Pakistan is on an uptick. Local scrap prices increased by around PKR 4,000/t w-o-w to PKR 100,000/t ex-Punjab. Buyers are preferring local scrap as it remained supported for yet another week.