Caution prevails in Pakistan’s steel market as mills grapple with sluggish demand, excess inventory, and ongoing losses. In the import scrap market, wide bid-offer spreads limit buying activity. Even so, some market insiders believe that tentative signs of recovery may allow some deals to be done.
More specifically, offers for ex-Europe/UK shredded scrap in containers have been voiced mainly at $375/mt CFR, compared to $368-370/mt CFR at the beginning of last week, while trade inquiries have continued to remain at $370/mt CFR. According to sources, several deals for ex-UK/EU shredded scrap have been signed at $370-372/mt CFR. “We heard several deals for shredded scrap booked at an even higher level or around $373–378/mt CFR,” a Pakistani trader told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, deal prices for ex-UAE shredded scrap have been reported at $390/mt CFR level, while most offers have been voiced at $390-395/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, local prices of scrap equivalent to shredded in Pakistan have settled at around PKR 135,000-140,000/mt ($479-496/mt) ex-warehouse, up by PKR 5,000/mt ($18/mt) on the higher end of the range week on week. Besides, the tradable level for local 10-12 mm rebar of grade 60 has been heard at PKR 235,000-240,000/mt ($833-851/mt) ex-works, the same as last week. “The local market in Pakistan still faces pressure due to the liquidity crunch and prolonged transport protests which ended last week finally but were hitting customers with huge burdens and losses,” a market insider said.
All prices on Pakistani rupee basis include 18 percent VAT.
$1 = PKR 281.97