India: Imported scrap offers up, mills hold-back bookings

Indian mills kept their foot away from the imported scrap market as offers rose. The disparity in bids and offers kept market activities slow in India. In addition, correction in domestic billet prices kept buyers away from making fresh bookings of imported scrap.

Recent offers

• Fresh offers for shredded for UK/EU-origin are now at $540-545/tonne (t) CFR Nhava Sheva, up by $5-10/t w-o-w.
• Dubai-origin HMS 1 offers were heard at around $495-500/t CFR Nhava Sheva.
• HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the UAE are being offered at $480-485/t CFR Nhava Sheva, while bids were heard at $470-475/t.

“Majority of Indian steel mills are not ready to pay above $450/t CFR for imported HMS. On the other hand, offers are prevailing in the range of $470/t and $485-490/t CFR for West Africa and Dubai origins,” said a participant from a global scrap trading company.

Overseas scrap suppliers continued offering shredded in Pakistan since mills there accepted the prices. The market slowed down due to the ongoing holidays. However, trading is expected to resume next week on tighter availability of the material in the domestic market. SteelMint’s bi-weekly assessment for shredded scrap of UK/EU-origin stands at $540-545/t CFR Port Qasim.

Melting scrap prices exhibit mixed trends: Melting scrap prices witnessed uneven variations across markets, as per SteelMint’s assessment. In a few locations, prices slipped particularly in Hyderabad following an improvement in semi-finished steel prices. On the other hand, scrap prices edged up in certain other locations due to high realisations in the surrounding markets. Prices in the near term are expected to remain range-bound and no major fluctuation seems likely, trade sources informed. SteelMint’s assessment for HMS is at INR 35,300/t DAP Mumbai, up by INR 200/t w-o-w. Similarly, prices for Jalna are at INR 35,000/t DAP, up by INR 200/t w-o-w.

Indian re-bar prices largely stable in major markets: Induction furnace (IF) grade re-bar prices remained range-bound in most major locations in India. However, in a few markets, prices dipped owing to limited demand and spot trading activity. Weak semi-finished steel prices and limited deals for re-bar indicate that a marginal correction in prices could occur in the short period, although that is likely to vary from market to market, sources said. As per SteelMint’s assessment, induction furnace (IF)-grade rebar prices in Mumbai stand at INR 50,000/t exw, up by INR 400/t exw w-o-w.