Bangladesh: Containerised scrap bookings regain momentum in absence of bulk trade

Bangladesh imported scrap market regained  momentum this week with active containerized bookings taking place for fresh material. Increasing demand from end-users has kept mills active in the market. Bulk trade remained absent this week as mills had restocked quite a few bulk cargoes from EU and USA in early Dec’22 for Feb’22 deliveries.

SteelMint’s assessment for shredded scrap from UK stands at $555/t CFR Chittagong, mostly unchanged w-o-w.

Container offers and deals

• In the recent round of deals, 27,000 t of UK-origin shredded scrap in containers was booked towards early this week at $550/t CFR Bangladesh, as per sources. Fresh offers for the same are being quoted at $560/t CFR Chittagong.
• 2,000 t of HMS 1&2 (90:10) of UK-origin in containers was booked at $525/t CFR Bangladesh.
• 5,000 t of P&S grade scrap was booked at $540-545/t CFR Bangladesh.

Additionally, a steel producer said: “Due to tighter scrap supplies in the domestic market, continuous bookings of containerized imported scrap is taking place and from next week we can see more activities in the market.” 

Bulk scrap market quiet 

Bulk scrap buyers extended their silence with the majority of yards yet to make a comeback from the New Year holidays. Japan’s bellwether monthly Kanto Tetsugen ferrous scrap export tender has been scheduled for 12 Jan’22, trade sources informed SteelMint. The tender remained inconclusive for the last two months in a row on bid-offer disparities.

Bangladesh’s bulk ferrous scrap imports fell slightly by 5% to 0.2 mn t in Dec’21 vis-a-vis 0.21 mn t in Nov’21, as per SteelMint data. USA was the top exporter to Bangladesh with 0.12 mn t in Dec’21 followed by the UK with 0.04 mn t, respectively. On a yearly basis, scrap imports have shown a 33% decrease as against 0.3 mn t in Dec’20.

Domestic steel market sentiments improve

The domestic market slightly picked up this week with improvement in construction activities. However, rebar offers from major mills have remained firm at BDT 77,000-78,000/t exw Chittagong ($899-910/t), unchanged w-o-w. In the Dhaka market, offers are at BDT 71,000/t ($829/t). However, it is expected that demand will increase in the near term which may boost imported scrap inquiries as well.