Import scrap prices in India have lost ground over the past week amid global cues and local buyers have moved to the side-lines, perceiving the market to be entering a new down-cycle, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, July 27.
Indian buyers have only been looking at cheaper offers and otherwise have been unwilling to conclude trades. The upturn in prices of rebar also proved to be short-lived, dampening the appetite for raw material restocking.
According to market reports, ex-Europe containerized shredded scrap prices are in the range of $450-460/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port, with the higher end of the range representing the majority of offers, while the lower end represents the deal price level. This is down $10/mt from the level reported late last week.
A northern India-based integrated auto component manufacturer operating an induction furnace has reported a trade for 2,000 mt of ex-Europe containerized shredded scrap at $450/mt CFR, sources said. Overall demand has been described as weak by most market sources.
The trend of booking of bulk ex-US scrap has been extended from the previous week, although for comparatively lower volumes. Trade circles said that 8,000 mt of ex-US HMS and 2,000 mt of bonus grade was booked for end-of-September shipment at $427/mt CFR Chennai port, marginally down $3/mt from a similar trade in the previous week. There has been no final confirmation of this deal as some sources believe that this is just an additional volume to the previous booking.
Sources said that ex-Europe shredded scrap have slipped but local buyers are unwilling to conclude trades, expecting the downtrend to gather further momentum, with some traders even expecting offers for bulk scrap to seek sub-$400/mt CFR levels in view of the softening of finished steel prices across key western markets.