India’s imported scrap market remains range-bound

Imported scrap prices into India remained range bound as the market was slow this week. Limited offers were floated by suppliers, owing to increased trade and reasonable prices in neighboring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, SteelMint understands.

Recent offers and trade deals

• Fresh offers for UK/EU-origin shredded are now at $525-530/tonne (t) CFR Nhava Sheva, down by $5-10/t against last week.
• Dubai-origin HMS 1 offers were heard at around $485-490/t CFR Nhava Sheva with few deals being reported at $485/t CFR levels.
• HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UAE is being offered at $475-480/t CFR Nhava Sheva.

Recently, a deal was concluded for 1,000 t of HMS 1&2 (80:20) of West Africa origin at $453/t basis by a western-India based mill. Fresh offers were heard around $450-460/t CFR levels.

“The market is subdued. There are hardly any takers at current offers. Just a few deals for HMS have been reported recently,” told a scrap trader.

“We expect trade to improve in September, provided there are some more corrections in global prices,” said an Indian player.

Domestic melting scrap prices fall: Ferrous scrap prices in India fell following a correction in finished steel prices, sources informed. SteelMint’s assessment for HMS was recorded at INR 34,600/t DAP Mumbai, down by INR 700/t w-o-w while prices for Jalna are at INR 35,000/t DAP, stable w-o-w. However, in Chennai, prices have come down by INR 100-200/t w-o-w.

However, prices of P-DRI, FeM 80%, sponge iron continued falling owing to low bids and price corrections in the billets market. Softening raw material prices could lead to a further fall in offers. SteelMint’s benchmark sponge P-DRI (FeM 80%) prices were down by INR 900/t to INR 29,700/t, exw-Raipur.

Indian rebar IF-route prices soften on low demand: The induction furnace route re-bar market is dull owing to weak buying inquiries and limited trade in the spot market. Decreasing raw material costs and dull demand remained the major factors behind falling re-bar prices. Due to limited trading in re-bar, inventories are rising at mills, which indicate that prices are likely to remain under pressure. As per SteelMint’s assessment, induction furnace (IF, Fe 500)-grade rebar prices in Mumbai stand at INR 49,100/t exw, down by INR 900/t exw w-o-w.