Bangladesh: Fall in Bids Put Imported Scrap Offers Under Pressure

Imported scrap offers to Bangladesh continued to move down for another week, as persistent lower buying bids from most major steel-mills over the week helped in pulling down the prices further, SteelMint learnt from industry participants. Trades have remained slow in comparison to last week, with many buyers waiting for further stability in the market, however, buying is likely to pick up in the next few days at favourable prices.

SteelMint’s assessment for containerized Shredded scrap from Europe and North America stands in the range of USD 260-265/MT, CFR Chittagong, down by another USD 5-10/MT against last week’s report. Few deals were reported at around USD 262-263/MT CFR, however, most buyers had kept their bids lower, remaining watchful of the ongoing downtrend.

HMS scrap prices witnessed a sharper drop this week, with HMS 1&2 (80:20) from Brazil and European origins being offered at around USD 250/MT CFR, down by around USD 8/MT w-o-w, with a further drop being expected on account of lower buying interest. Offers for higher quality HMS 1 from South African and Australian Origin now stands at USD 255-256/MT CFR, falling by USD 10/MT on a weekly basis.

P&S offers from Brazil and other South American origins plunged sharply amid limited interest from buyers, currently standing at around USD 265/MT CFR, almost on par with Shredded scrap offers.

Domestic scrap prices observes stability - After observing sharp decline for several months successively, Local scrap prices seem to have witnessed slight strengthening this week, on account increased demand and tightening of supply. Currently, the shipyard scrap in Chittagong market is being offered at around BDT 30,500-31500/MT (USD 361 -372 ) ex Chittagong, up by BDT 500-1000/MT. On the other hand, LMS bundles (substitute of Sponge Iron) are being offered at around BDT 26,000/MT, while ship plates of 12mm and 16mm are being traded at around BDT 40,500/MT and 41,500/MT ex Chittagong respectively .

The domestic finished steel market remains slow as the continuing of heavy monsoon and floods in northern regions has kept demand from construction sector limited, while a further fall in prices of domestic billet and global scrap are also likely to affect finished steel prices in coming days.