Bangladesh: Imported scrap offers climb to near four-month high, trades remain muted

Imported scrap prices in Bangladesh have continued to head north tracking the price uptrend in Turkey. However, trades have slowed down amidst ongoing Ramadan month and extended strict lockdown.

Bulk scrap offers for Japanese H2 are slightly up by $10/t w-o-w, however, no trades were reported for Japanese cargo from last few weeks amid Golden Week holidays. SteelMint’s assessment for Japanese bulk H2 offers to Bangladesh now stands at $500/t CFR Chittagong levels, up by $10/t w-o-w.

On the other hand, USA origin bulk scrap cargo bookings are in a pause after active bookings were witnessed in the preceding week at favorable price levels. Fresh offers for USA origin bulk HMS 1&2 (80:20) are now being quoted at above $500/t CFR Chittagong levels.

Container market impacted amid bearish market fundamentals – Increased freight rates remained the major concern for most of the scrap buyers and steelmakers, coupled with weak finished steel demand on strict lockdown.

Recent offers & trades:

• Few deals concluded for around 2,000-3,000 t of shredded at $495-500/t Chittagong levels
• UK/EU origin shredded in containers is being quoted at $500-510/t CFR Chittagong levels, up by $10/t w-o-w
• HMS 1&2 (80:20) from different origin are now available at $490-500/t CFR Chittagong levels, moving up significantly over $25/t w-o-w.

Indian sponge iron export prices remain stable in recent deals – SteelMint’s benchmark sponge iron (80 FeM, 100% lumps) export price assessment remained stable this week as demand remained modest with volatility in prices in Indian domestic market. About 5,000 t fresh deals were recorded recently.

Domestic rebar sales remain slow – Domestic steel market and scrap market are weak at the moment due to lockdown and the upcoming Eid holidays, SteelMint learnt. Rebar offers in Dhaka region mostly stable against last week at BDT 67,000/t exw. While major mills offering rebar at BDT 70,500-71,000/t exw basis, remain unchanged w-o-w. Due to tight scrap availability in local market, prices remained on the higher side at BDT 47,500/t exy.