Import scrap offers in Pakistan have continued to move up this week due to the bullishness of global scrap suppliers. Deals, however, have remained occasional in Pakistan, as the curbs on the opening of letters of credit (LCs) have continued to affect business activity.
Specifically, several deals for ex-UK/EU shredded scrap in containers have been reported at $435-438/mt CFR, versus deal prices at $435/mt CFR last week. Meanwhile, new ex-UK/EU shredded scrap offers have been voiced at $440-445/mt CFR, up by $5/mt over the past week.
At the same time, Pakistani rebar mills have been forced to increase their offers for domestic customers once again this week, due to the continuous and unprecedented increase in the cost of energy and the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar. In particular, local prices for 10-12 mm rebar of grade 60 have increased by around PKR 7,000-8,000/mt ($23-26/mt) week on week to PKR 285,000-288,000/mt ($940-950/mt) ex-works. “Due to recent changes in the currency exchange rates and the increasing cost of raw materials and other inputs, we regret to inform you that we will be implementing a price increase on our steel products,” one of the biggest Pakistani mills officially stated.
Local scrap prices equivalent to shredded have kept rising in Pakistan this week, reaching PKR 195,00-198,000/mt ($/mt) ex-warehouse, up by $2,000-5,000/mt ($7-16/mt) over the past week.
All prices on Pakistani rupee basis include 18 percent VAT.
$1 = PKR 303.32