Import scrap offers in Pakistan have softened during the past week, but the rate of the decline has continued to lag behind those seen in the global market. Specifically, while at the beginning of the current week import offers of shredded 211 scrap of European origin in containers to Pakistan have remained mostly unchanged compared to the previous week, at $540-550/mt CFR Qasim, towards the end of the given week more and more suppliers have been ready to accept $530-535/mt CFR Qasim. Nevertheless, prices have continued to be much higher than fixed in the recent deals to Turkey. Accordingly, at present the spread between Turkish and Pakistani prices exceeds the average level by at least $20/mt. Taking into account the current developments in the market, Pakistani steelmakers have held back their bids, preferring to watch more closely the situation in the global market. However, scrap inventories in the local market have notably diminished recently, according to sources.
Meanwhile, domestic rebar prices in Pakistan have risen, following the Pakistani government’s recent announcement regarding the fixed values of steel prices in the local market. Specifically, on August 4 the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Pakistan has issued fixed values for steel products, in particular for steel bars and other long profiles at PKR 140,000/mt, and for steel billets and steel ingots - at PKR 125,000/mt and at PKR 120,000/mt, respectively. The value for re-rolling iron and steel scrap was fixed at PKR 118,000/mt. On balance, prices for 12-25 mm domestic rebar of grade 60 in Pakistan have increased by PKR 2,000-4,000/mt ($12-24/mt) compared to the levels a week ago, to PKR 162,000/mt ($988-1,000/mt) ex-works, including 17 percent VAT.
$1 = PKR 163.089