Bangladesh: Imported Scrap Prices Fall Sharply Amid Less Trades

In conversation with industry participants, SteelMint learned that imported scrap offers to Bangladesh have further fallen this week on the account major correction in global levels along with slow sales of domestic finished steel.

Limited buying activity observed due to already filled inventories and amid ongoing Ramadan. The market is in a watch-full mode for a further price correction.

SteelMint’s price assessment for containerized Shredded scrap from UK, USA and Canada stands mostly around USD 335/MT, CFR Chittagong, down by USD 5-10/MT against the last week’s report, as offers from most of the yards were being reported in this range after global price correction last week.

Containerized HMS offers also dropped by 8-10 USD against last week. Offers for HMS 1 from Chile and Brazil stand at USD 325-330/MT, CFR Chittagong while leading suppliers were reported to offer South American HMS 1&2 at USD 330/MT, CFR for a mid-July delivery.

Offers for P&S scrap in containers have dropped to USD 350/MT, CFR levels from suppliers however, no purchase bids were witnessed. No buying inquiries were reported for bulk scrap cargo this week.

Meanwhile, local sentiments remain weak as domestic finished steel sales are reported to have fallen and as per market prediction, it might continue to remain on the lower side in the near terms due to upcoming Eid holidays & country’s budget scheduled in mid-June, in addition to the rainy season which affects the construction activities.

Chittagong's market has imported large ships in terms of ship breaking volume actively since the past couple of weeks which also has led to a drop in domestic scrap prices. As per reports provided by one of the leading ship buyers, the country witnessed around 180,000 MT LTD was beached alone last week despite rumors of new duties and taxes on steel sector, which will keep recyclers engaged in the months ahead.

Local scrap prices fall BDT 2,000-3,000/MT in last couple of weeks - Local shipyard scrap prices are being reported at BDT 34,000-34,500/MT (USD 401-407), dropping further from BDT 35,000-35,500/MT range last week. Over the last 3 weeks, shipyard scrap has dropped by around BDT 2500-3000 (USD 30-35). Local melting scrap prices remain in the range of BDT 33,000-33,500/MT (USD 390-394) ex-works inclusive of taxes.

Ship plate prices in Chittagong’s market have dropped by around BDT 500-700/MT (USD 6-8) on a weekly basis. Ship plates (16 mm) are being traded at around BDT 43,300-43,500/MT (USD 511-513), ex-works Chittagong against BDT 44,000/MT level last week while prices for 12 mm ship plate slightly dropped to BDT 42,300/MT (USD 500) inclusive of local taxes.