South Asian imported scrap markets remain subdued amid cautious buying, freight constraints

• Turkiye scrap prices steady even though rebar demand weakens 
• Bangladesh: High freight costs and price gaps limit buying

South Asian imported scrap markets remained subdued on 9 October, with cautious buying in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh amid price resistance and freight constraints. Turkiye remained steady as weak rebar demand and falling prices limited mills’ willingness to accept higher scrap offers.

India: Imported scrap market remained subdued to firm, with a UK-origin turnings traded at $340/t CNF Nhava Sheva. UK-origin HMS was bid at $355-360/t CFR Mundra, against offers around $370/t. In Chennai, Australia-origin HMS was heard at $360-365/t and shredded at $375-380/t. Buyers prioritised containers arriving within October, favouring Southeast Asian and nearshore origins, with workable levels at $370-375/t for HMS, $390-395/t for shredded, $410-412/t for busheling and $400-402/t for PNS CFR Chennai.

Pakistan: Imported scrap market remained subdued, with UK-origin shredded offers around $413/t and a recent deal reported at $415/t CFR Qasim. No trades were concluded at the $413/t offer level. Prices continued to trend downward, although market participants suggested prices may have reached a bottom, while recent Middle East-origin transactions remained at elevated levels.

Bangladesh: Imported scrap market remained subdued, with no trades reported from Far East suppliers amid high freight rates. Japan’s October Kanto export scrap tender settled at JPY 52,077/t FAS ($329/t), up JPY 3,964/t ($25/t) from September’s JPY 48,113/t ($313/t), marking the first sharp increase after four consecutive monthly declines. The tender cargo was awarded to Bangladesh.

Australia/New Zealand HMS-PNS mix offers were reported at $390-400/t CFR Chattogram, against bids at $380-385/t. Singapore PNS was offered up to $430/t, while Malaysia PNS stood at $424-425/t CFR Chattogram. Malaysian suppliers also offered shredded scrap at around $420/t CFR Bangladesh, although the gap between offers and bids continued to limit buying interest.

Turkiye: Deep-sea imported scrap prices fell down by $4/t d-o-d on 9 October amid subdued activity and limited buying interest. A deal for UK-origin scrap was heard at $391/t CFR for a Mediterranean region based mill, while another deal was reported at $390/t. Multiple UK-origin offers were also heard around $390/t, indicating softer market levels.

Mills remained reluctant to accept higher prices as rebar demand failed to improve and prices fell by nearly $20/t over two weeks. However, sellers continued to hold firm, with tradable values for US-origin HMS 80:20 clustered at $404/t CFR, within a $404-406/t range.