- Turkiye: Black Sea disruptions supported scrap despite covered requirements
- India: Rupee weakness widened bid-offer gap, limiting imports
Global weekly ferrous scrap markets showed a mixed-to-stable trend, with firm supply-side factors supporting prices in Türkiye, India and Bangladesh, while weak steel demand limited buying. Japan remained stable, the US saw divergent grade movements, and UAE domestic prices edged higher.
Turkiye: Deep-sea scrap market remained largely stable during the week, with US-origin HMS 80:20 consistently assessed around $375/t CFR Türkiye and European material trading near $370-3723/t CFR. Limited seller availability, elevated freight costs, low Rhine water levels and Black Sea disruptions provided supply-side support, while Turkish rebar export offers firmed to $580-590/t FOB, improving scrap replacement economics.
Weak steel and rebar demand, along with covered August requirements, kept Turkish mills cautious, leaving deep-sea scrap prices range-bound despite supply-side constraints.
India: Imported containerised scrap market ended the week with firmer seller expectations, although actual buying remained cautious. Shredded scrap offers increased from around $375-380/t earlier in the week to $395-400/t CFR India, while HMS 80:20 offers were largely in the $335-345/t CFR range. However, buyers continued to target lower levels, with shredded bids near $375-380/t CFR Nhava Sheva and HMS 80:20 bids around $310-315/t, keeping the bid-offer gap wide and limiting confirmed deals.
The higher offers were supported by rising domestic steel prices and expectations of improving demand as the monsoon season progresses towards its end. However, an unfavourable exchange rate, competitive domestic scrap prices and the availability of alternatives such as DRI and pig iron continued to make imports less attractive. Mills therefore remained reluctant to commit to high-priced or long-voyage cargoes and largely preferred domestic material.
Better demand from northern India provided some support, but western Indian buyers remained cautious
Pakistan: Imported shredded scrap market remained largely subdued throughout the week, with sufficient mill inventories, weak steel demand and monsoon-related disruptions keeping buyers on the sidelines. EU/UK shredded offers were mostly heard at $415-420/t CFR Port Qasim, while workable bids remained around $410-412/t, with BigMint’s assessment steady at $415/t CFR. Open-yard material was indicated near $414-415/t, while yard material was higher at around $420-425/t. Despite some lower-priced Australia-origin material being heard near $380/t and UK cargoes around $390-395/t, fresh bookings remained limited.
A persistent bid-offer gap, high freight costs and limited container availability kept imports under pressure, while comfortable mill inventories and weak construction demand prevented prices from moving higher.
Bangladesh: Iimported scrap market strengthened during the week, with firmer prices across key grades despite weak underlying steel demand. European HMS 80:20 moved around $365-370/t CFR Chattogram, while US-origin HMS was indicated at $378-385/t and Australian HMS 80:20 traded around $368/t CFR. Shredded scrap offers increased from around $395/t to $398-400/t CFR, while Australian PNS was heard near $415/t. However, containerised shredded bids remained lower at around $380-385/t, indicating a continued gap between buyer expectations and seller offers.
Buying remained cautious amid weak construction activity, monsoon disruptions and comfortable inventories, while a wide bid-offer gap restricted bookings. Firmer supply-side prices will need stronger domestic steel demand for sustained support.
Japan: H2 export scrap prices remained stable at JPY 48,500/t ($305/t) FOB Tokyo Bay amid subdued holiday trading. September list prices were also unchanged for the second consecutive month following the July increase.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Steel cut H2 purchase prices by JPY 500-1,500/t ($3-6/t) across all plants from 22 August, marking its ninth consecutive cut since July. Prices now stand at JPY 47,000-50,000/t ($296-314/t) DAP, despite expectations of stronger autumn construction demand.
US: The RMDAS ferrous scrap index showed a mixed trend on 21 August compared with 21 July. Shredded scrap fell by $10/t to $418/t and HMS declined by $8/t to $366/t, pressured by strong scrap supply, higher summer collection and mini-mill maintenance outages. In contrast, the prompt industrial composite increased by $2/t to $471/t, supported by firm sheet steel demand and potential disruptions to Ukrainian pig iron shipments.
UAE: Domestic scrap market remained stable to firm w-o-w, supported by steady demand despite comfortable material availability. Processed HMS rose AED 14/t to AED 996/t ($269/t) DAP Abu Dhabi, while HMS 80:20 stood at AED 890-900/t and shredded at AED 1,040-1,060/t.
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