- Indian buyers cautious amid price uncertainty
- Turkish scrap prices edge up in recent deals
South Asia’s imported scrap markets remained largely quiet today, with cautious sentiment prevailing across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh amid global volatility and weak domestic fundamentals. Buyers across the region were hesitant to make fresh bookings, citing factors such as soft finished steel demand, elevated freight and collection costs, regional uncertainties, and expectations of further price corrections.
While India grappled with seasonal slowdown concerns, Pakistan faced the aftermath of border-related disruptions, and Bangladesh remained weighed down by high production costs and currency issues.
Turkiye, however, showed early signs of stability following two recent bulk deals, offering a glimmer of direction for South Asian markets in the coming weeks.
D-o-d, UK-origin shredded offers remained stable across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. However, US-origin bulk HMS 80:20 offers to Turkiye edged up by $3/t d-o-d.
Market overview
India: India’s imported scrap market remained subdued today, with buyers cautious amid volatile Turkish scrap prices, seasonal slowdown concerns, and weak domestic steel demand.
UK-origin shredded was offered at $370/t CFR Nhava Sheva, but bids stayed lower at $365/t, keeping trade inactive. HMS 80:20 offers from the UK hovered at $345-350/t CFR, while West African cargoes were heard at $350-360/t CFR depending on loading.
Some buyers are holding back as the monsoon season nears and expect prices to soften further, while others noted signs of recovery in Turkiye, adding to market confusion. High freights, tight liquidity, and sufficient inventories weighed on fresh bookings.
Pakistan: Pakistan’s imported scrap market remained slow today, with no major deals reported amid weak buying interest and regional uncertainty.
Buyers stayed on the sidelines, bidding around $365-370/t CFR Port Qasim, while offers for UK/EU-origin shredded stood higher at $370-375/t, leading to a deadlock.
UAE-origin material remained out of reach at $385-390/t CFR, with no sales heard this week.
Although recent border tensions have eased, earlier disruptions had slowed scrap movement from ports, keeping sentiment cautious. Domestic rebar prices were heard at PKR 235,000-240,000/t ($843-861/t), billets at PKR 200,000-205,000/t ($718-736/t), and local scrap at PKR 134,000-138,000/t ($480-494/t).
Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s imported scrap market stayed quiet today, with mills refraining from new bookings due to sluggish finished steel demand, elevated production costs, and persistent currency challenges.
Australian shredded offers at $380-385/t CFR Chattogram saw limited interest, while bids for HMS 80:20 remained lower, at around $360/t CFR, against offers of $365-370/t CFR.
Turkiye: The Turkish imported scrap market held steady, buoyed by two recent bulk deals that supported a slight price uptick. A French-origin cargo was sold to a western Turkiye-based mill at $322.5/t CFR for 15,000 t of HMS 80:20 for May shipment. Additionally, a US-origin cargo was booked by the same mill at $330/t CFR last week. These transactions reflected buyers’ willingness to secure tonnage despite muted restocking urgency and pressured margins.
Sellers held offers firm, citing high collection costs and tightening supply, while mills remained cautious amid a soft rebar market and a narrow scrap-to-rebar spread, which stood at $210/t.
Price assessments
India: UK-origin shredded indicatives were assessed at $370/t CFR Nhava Sheva, unchanged d-o-d.
Pakistan: UK-origin shredded indicatives stood at $370/t CFR Qasim, unchanged d-o-d.
Bangladesh: UK-origin shredded indicatives remained unchanged d-o-d at $380/t CFR Chattogram.
Turkiye: US-origin HMS (80:20) bulk scrap prices edged up by $3/t d-o-d to $328/t CFR Turkiye.
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