Bangladesh’s imported scrap market has turned silent since the beginning of this week after aggressive bulk bookings were noticed towards last weekend.
Meanwhile, imported scrap offers recorded a slight decline following the global price drop.
Active bulk scrap bookings concluded from USA: Bangladesh-based major mills, namely BSRM, GPH, and AKS, were heard to have actively placed bulk scrap cargo bookings after drop in imported offers. Mills were quiet for the last few months as no major bulk deals were reported. Hence, buyers will not let go of the opportunity to restock inventory actively after price correction.
Around seven cargoes of bulk of US- and UK-origin were booked having mixed composition of HMS and shredded. The cargoes were booked at $570/t CFR and $575/t CFR Bangladesh, respectively, for end-Dec’21-early Jan’22 loading.
However, fresh offers for bulk US-origin HMS are heard at $560-570/t CFR Chittagong.
Container market quiet: The containerised scrap market was seen very dull as no inquiries were received from the buyers’ end. Market insiders expect the situation to remain subdued for a couple of weeks more.
“We cannot anticipate anything as no deals have been concluded from last weekend, despite this being the peak season. However, mills have sufficient scrap inventories for now,” said a Dhaka-based major scrap trader.
Fresh offers for shredded are being quoted at $570-575/t CFR Chittagong levels, down significantly by $10-15/t w-o-w. Around 5,000 t of UK-origin shredded scrap was booked at $580-585/t CFR Bangladesh a week ago, as per reliable sources.
UK-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) is being offered at $540/t CFR Chittagong.
Domestic scrap prices also move south: SteelMint’s assessment for melting scrap stands at BDT 53,000/t exy-Chittagong, down by BDT 1,800/t w-o-w. Dhaka-based mills continued to prefer local scrap on low price preference and fast delivery, said another scrap trader.
Domestic rebar prices unmoved: The country’s domestic market remained slow for yet another week. Major mills in Bangladesh are offering rebar (10-16 mm) at BDT 77,000-79,000/t ($897-921/t) exw-Chittagong, offers being mostly stable w-o-w.
However, a few Dhaka-based plants have lowered offers to BDT 72,000/t ($839/t) on an exy-basis, down by BDT 2,000/t ($23/t) w-o-w. Rebar end-users are showing negative sentiments, only big projects are working, as per SteelMint sources.
Outlook
Bangladesh’s imported scrap market is expected to remain less active this week as majority of the mills have restocked cargoes. However, steel prices may see some correction on lower bids.
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