Bangladesh continues to remain an emerging market and the import of steel and raw material play an important role as the country is highly dependent on them. According to SteelMint import data of Bangladesh which comprises of only bulk shipments; some interesting inferences has been made
1. Bangladesh imported 55,000 MT Coal (down by 45% M-o-M). Coal import expected to increase in October as two bulk vessel tracked from Indonesia and South Africa. Coal imported to Bangladesh is largely used by brick manufacturers.
2. Bulk Scrap imports are up by 156% (M-o-M) in Sep’17. Three vessels carrying 106,000 MT discharged in Sep. Import expected to increase further as more than 12 vessels (carrying 320,000 MT Scrap) are at anchorage and due to congestion it is delayed.
3. Bangladesh’s Abul Khair imported 31,500 MT of Pig iron from India. This cargo was sold by MMTC through tender to a trader. Pig iron is solely imported by Abul Khair, which is the second largest mill in Bangladesh and operates Electric Arc Furnace (EAF).
4. One bulk vessel of HBI from Malaysia totaled 27,000 MT reported at port after a time span of 5 months.
5. HR Coil imports down by 33% as compared to last month. Imports from Japan doubled in Sep’17. No import shipment recorded from Korea, Malaysia and India. Some mills have started importing CR coil owing to instead of HR coil due to lower price difference.
6. One shipment of 54,300 MT Billet was reported at Chittagong port on 06th September. This cargo was loaded from Qatar (Mesaieed Port) according to Chittagong port authorities. Sources say, this cargo originally belongs from Iran but routed through Qatar.
Bangladesh Bulk Import in CY2017
| MONTH | COAL | HR COIL | SCRAP | STEEL BILLET | HBI | PIG IRON |
| Jan 17 | 212,700 | 80,590 | 99,124 | 44,000 | NIL | 15,750 |
| Feb 17 | 462,700 | 101,850 | 9,800 | NIL | 50,600 | NIL |
| Mar 17 | 255,570 | 60,190 | 127,270 | NIL | 25,010 | NIL |
| Apr 17 | 44,000 | 63,720 | 146,710 | NIL | NIL | NIL |
| May 17 | 6,900 | 74,430 | NIL | NIL | NIL | NIL |
| Jun 17 | NIL | 105,800 | 37,560 | NIL | NIL | NIL |
| Jul 17 | NIL | 3,160 | 20,050 | NIL | NIL | NIL |
| Aug 17 | 100,530 | 80,820 | 41,600 | 27,400 | NIL | NIL |
| Sep 17 | 55,000 | 54,000 | 106,520 | 54,300 | 27,050 | 31,500 |
| Total | 1,137,400 | 624,560 | 588,634 | 125,700 | 102,660 | 47,250 |
Qty in MT
Source: SteelMint Stats, Bangladesh Custom
Provisional Data

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