Bangladesh's import scrap market has remained very quiet over the past week, despite a slight increase in offer levels supported by firmer international scrap prices and higher freight and replacement costs. Buying activity has remained limited, as weak rebar demand and rising electricity costs have continued to weigh on steelmakers' margins, keeping mills reluctant to accept sellers' higher asking prices. At the same time, market participants expect demand to improve during the October-March dry season, when construction activity traditionally picks up.
More specifically, ex-EU shredded scrap in containers has been indicated at around $410/mt CFR Chattogram this week, up from the $405-407/mt CFR Chattogram range reported last week. Meanwhile, ex-EU HMS I/II 80:20 scrap in containers has been indicated at around $373-380/mt CFR Chattogram, compared with $370-375/mt CFR Chattogram last week. However, the price gap between sellers and buyers has remained substantial, with buyers showing interest at around $390/mt CFR for shredded scrap and around $360/mt CFR for HMS I/II 80:20 - levels which are currently considered to be unavailable. “To tell you very frankly, the Bangladeshi market is very quiet, and we haven't seen any firm buying inquiry from end-customers for quite some time,” a source in the market told SteelOrbis, adding that suppliers are nevertheless attempting to maintain or slightly increase their offers due to firmer global scrap prices and higher freight costs.
As for ex-Australia material, HMS scrap has been indicated at around $390-405/mt CFR Chattogram this week. However, buying interest has remained limited, with Bangladeshi mills continuing to focus mainly on competitively priced cargoes and immediate requirements.
In terms of other origins, Malaysian PNS scrap has been offered at around $410-415/mt CFR Chattogram. Meanwhile, Singapore origin HMS I/II 80:20 scrap has been indicated at around $405/mt CFR Chattogram, though no fresh deals have been confirmed at the time of writing. According to market sources, Singapore and Malaysian material currently appears more feasible for Bangladeshi buyers under the prevailing market conditions.
In the bulk segment, ex-US HMS I/II 80:20 scrap has been indicated at around $400-405/mt CFR Chattogram this week, slightly firmer compared with around $400/mt CFR Chattogram reported last week. Buyers, however, have been targeting considerably lower levels of around $390-395/mt CFR, and no fresh bulk bookings have been confirmed. Accordingly, the increase in suppliers' asking prices has so far reflected higher replacement and freight costs rather than any meaningful recovery in Bangladeshi buying activity.
Meanwhile, market participants are looking to the start of the dry season for a possible improvement in construction activity and steel consumption. However, any recovery in scrap purchasing is expected to be gradual, with mills likely to remain highly selective and to favour competitively priced and shorter-transit cargoes until finished steel sales show a more convincing improvement.
$1 = BDT 123.10
