Import scrap offers to India have been kept largely stable but have struggled to find any buyers with secondary mills lacking confidence to restock raw materials in face of rains and floods in some regions impacting the revival of finished steel demand and amid risks of a persistently depreciating local currency, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, September 10.
Ex-UK/Europe containerized shredded scrap offers are reported stable in the range of $360-365/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port in the west, but, with bids heard at lows of $345-350/mt CFR, no deals have been confirmed over the past week. This means the reference price has gone down slightly from $360/mt CFR on average last week to $355/mt CFR.
Similarly, ex-UK scrap HMS I/II (80:20) offers are reported unchanged in the range of $325-330/mt CFR, but bids were at lows of around $315-320/mt CFR, preventing any trades from being done, sources said.
Apart from the wide bid-offer disparities, currency risks were also keeping buyers on the sidelines. The Indian rupee has been volatile touching historical lows ranging between INR 88.10 to the US dollar and INR 88.60 to the dollar, increasing the landed cost of imports and also pushing up transportation, insurance and currency hedging costs.
“Sellers are not adjusting prices, even when seeing global prices are weakening. On the buyers’ side, there is no confidence to commit to raw materials because the extended monsoon rains and the floods in the northern region have delayed any possible immediate demand revival for long products,” a Mumbai-based trader said.