The global ferrous scrap price remained largely volatile while suppliers to the South Asian market tried to stay afloat with smaller deals to India and Bangladesh. In Pakistan, the same lacklustre trend continued with almost no uptick in trade activities.
Turkiye’s trade volumes increased suddenly after a dull period that followed the quake. The buyers were propelled into action because of the requirement for rebar for the country’s post-quake reconstruction.
Coming to China’s market, Shagang Steel increased its scrap purchase prices this week. South Korean Hyundai Steel’s bids for H2 scrap were reduced after almost three weeks, and Japanese scrap export prices remained down amid limited buying inquiries from the preferred destinations.
Turkish scrap prices head north: Turkish imported ferrous scrap prices touched an 8-month high. Suppliers held back offers and were heard targeting $450-55/t CFR in the short term. Some bulk cargo bookings from the US, the UK, Europe, and the Baltic region took place at increased prices this week. This has prompted at least 16 deep-sea scrap deals to be scheduled since 18 February 2023. Cold weather combined with high demand helped suppliers to attain better levels.
Recent deals for HMS (80:20) were booked at higher prices from the Shortand Baltic region at $450/t by an Aegean-region mill. One UK-based cargo of HMS (80:20) was booked at $445/t while shredded scrap CFR Turkiye was at $470/t.
SteelMint’s daily assessment for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from the US stood at $448-50/t CFR Turkiye, significantly up by $35-40/t w-o-w.
Pakistan imported market silent w-o-w: The nation’s scrap importers have been adversely impacted by delayed LC openings and rising inflation. At the moment, the market is operating based on local scrap. Pakistani steel manufacturers are pleading with the government to extend help by providing letters of credit (LCs) for scrap imports.
SteelMint’s assessment for imported shredded scrap in containers is at $470/t CFR, up $5-7/t w-o-w.
Bangladesh market sees few deals w-o-w: Bangladeshi steel mills are raising finished long steel prices and trying to increase their conversion spread to meet their higher operational costs amid a lower capacity utilisation ratio. However, a few major mills in the country have lately closed a few transactions from the US, UK, and Europe.
Containerised scrap offers and deals
Around 8,000 t of different-origin PNS, shredded,and HMS (80:20) and HMS (90:10) , have been booked at $498-500/t, $485/t, $478 and $465/t respectively CFR Bangladesh.
Containerised offers for UK-origin shredded scrap are at $485-90 /t CFR, down by $5/t w-o-w.
Fresh offers for US-origin bulk HMS were heard at $460-65/t CFR Chittagong, largely stable w-o-w.
Indian ferrous scrap market slow w-o-w: Indian ferrous scrap prices largely trended upward with limited buying but sellers kept quoting higher due to the uptrend in Turkish prices throughout this week. Major ports like Kandla received bulk arrivals of around 40,000 tonnes and small container consignments were notified mostly from Europe, Venezuela, Bahrain, and South Africa.
SteelMint’s assessment for imported shredded scrap in containers is at $465/t CFR, up $10/t w-o-w.
Japanese export prices down: After witnessing a continuous uptrend in prices for more than a month, the Japanese ferrous scrap export market turned bearish this week as demand turned weak, putting pressure on suppliers to lower their offers. However, Japanese suppliers are now focusing more on their domestic markets where they are seeing higher demand as well as prices compared to overseas.
SteelMint’s assessment for Japanese H2 scrap export prices stands at JPY 52,000/t ($381) FOB, down JPY 500/t ($4/t) w-o-w.
South Korea: Hyundai Steel decreased import prices of Japanese scrap by JPY 1,000/t($7/t) on 22 February after almost three weeks. After revision, the company’s bids for H2 scrap stand at JPY 51,000/t ($378/t), and those for HS are at JPY 54,000/t ($400/t) FOB following lower domestic scrap prices.
China: Shagang Steel hiked scrap purchase prices for the first time this month by RMB 50/t ($7/t) for all grades. After two consecutive hikes and drops, the company increased bids. After the revision, HMS (6-10 mm) prices are at RMB 3,200/t ($460/t) delivered to headquarters, including 13% VAT.
Vietnam: Ferrous scrap demand was suppressed due to muted steel demand from the infrastructure and construction sectors, bid-offer disparity, and price competitiveness of local scrap over imports.
Offers for Japanese bulk H2 scrap stood at $448/t CFR Vietnam, down by $2/t w-o-w. Meanwhile, bulk offers for US-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) were heard at $458/t CFR. Buyers are yet to resume bulk cargo bookings.
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