Bangladesh’s scrap imports market remained quiet this week, with hardly any deals concluded. Due to old scrap inventory lying with mills and less demand for finished steel, imported scrap buyers kept themselves away from the market, SteelMint understands.
“Bangladesh’s scrap market is slow for the last 10 days and prices are on a downtrend. A few transactions were heard concluded. These include 2,000 tonnes of U.S.-origin shredded at $525/t CFR basis,” a market source said.
- SteelMint’s assessment for containerised shredded from the U.K. stands at $530/t CFR, down by $8/t week-on-week (w-o-w).
- HMS from different origins are being quoted at $495-505/t CFR levels, registering a sharp fall of over $20/t w-o-w.
On the other hand, no firm offers for Japanese bulk scrap have been reported this week, due to the disparity in offers and bids. Market players are using their existing stocks amidst the prevailing uncertain market scenario.
“The bulk scrap market seems range-bound and no further downward correction in prices is expected at present. Offers for U.S.origin bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) are available at $525-530/t CFR Chittagong,” a prominent scrap dealer said.
Bulk scrap import volumes drop in May’21: Bulk ferrous scrap imports from Bangladesh were recorded at 0.12 million tonnes (mn t) in May’21, as against 0.3 mn t in Apr’21. Imports declined sharply by 60% month-on-month (m-o-m), as per vessel line-up data maintained with SteelMint. Japan and the U.S. were the only scrap suppliers to Bangladesh in May’21. Import bookings in April remained slightly lower due to existing inventory, concerns over oxygen constraints amid rising Covid-19 cases, and lockdowns which impacted finished steel sales. In addition, trade remained comparatively slow in the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.
Dull sentiment affects local sales: Construction activities also slowed down due to heavy rains in Bangladesh for the last two days. This has impacted sales in the local market.
Smaller mills reduce rebar prices on limited buying: Rebar and billet offers in Bangladesh are slightly down against last week, resulting in a decline in overall prices. Major mills kept their rebar offers stable at BDT 70,000-72,500/t exw-Chittagong. Dhaka-based mills are quoting rebar in the range of BDT 68,500-69,500/t exw, down by BDT 1,000-1,500/t w-o-w but no firm buying interest has been seen due to lockdown restrictions.
The market is awaiting the budget announcement which is expected to be out shortly.
Leave a Reply