Bangladesh: Scrap market in flux as mills yet to return to market after Eid holidays

Steel mills in Bangladesh continued to remain silent regarding ferrous scrap purchase amidst the  Eid-ul-Adha holidays. Mills aren’t active at present as major players are yet to resume operations post holidays.

Mill books one bulk cargo in Kanto tender

Bangladeshi buyers had been away from booking bulk cargoes from Japan in the last few months. However, a major mill has bid for Japanese H2 material in this month’s Kanto tender.  A total of 25,000 tonnes (t) of Japanese H2 scrap has been awarded at an average price of JPY 44,554/t ($324/t) FAS, out of which 15,000 t of H2 material has been booked at JPY 44,420/t (323/t) on FAS basis, SteelMint learnt from sources.

However, Japanese suppliers are yet to quote firm offers for the next round of bookings. Suppliers are likely to quote fresh offers at lower levels, as bids in the Kanto tender fell by JPY 9,006/t ($66/t) m-o-m. Right before this, mills were actively booking US-origin bulk cargoes at lower prices.

Moreover, offers for Europe-origin bulk cargo were heard at around $465/t CFR and from Venezuela at around $462/t, although buyers are yet to accept them.

Container scrap offers surge  

A few mills have resumed operations this week; a clear picture of the market would only emerge next week. Meanwhile, the secondary mills are mostly closed due to volatility in currency exchange rate.

• Fresh offers for UK-origin shredded are at $505-520/t CFR, up significantly by $20-25/t w-o-w.
• Around 2,000 t of shredded was heard booked at $505-506/t on CFR basis.
• HMS offers from the UK are now at $470-480/t CFR, an increase of over $20/t w-o-w. No major deals were heard, however.

“Bangladesh’s scrap buyers are likely to return from the Eid holidays from 18 July and only after that a clear direction can be emerge,” a source said. 

Domestic rebar offers likely to rise after holidays

Increased input and raw material costs are likely to push rebar offers higher in the near short term.

• SteelMint assesment for domestic rebar prices remained unchanged at BDT 83,000/t ($883/t) exw Chittagong levels, up by BDT 500/t w-o-w.
• Secondary mills in the Dhaka region are quoting rebar at BDT 78,000/t ($830/t), up by BDT 2,000/t w-o-w.

Furthermore, the Bangladeshi taka is largely stable at 93.7 on the currency exchange platform recently.

Outlook: Market participants expect bookings to resume towards the end of this week and prices are likely to firm up.