New offers for shredded scrap in Pakistan have posted another increase this week though most Pakistani buyers have remained inactive due to financial problems in the country and severe liquidity issues. Besides, some local rebar manufacturers have continued to announce the closing of all further sales of rebar given the severe shortage of raw materials, scrap in particular, due to problems with opening letters of credit (LCs).
More specifically, this week, offers for ex-UK shredded scrap in containers have settled at $485-490/mt CFR, versus $470-475/mt CFR last week. “Trade has been still close to zero due to the impossibility of opening LCs,” a Pakistani trader said.
Meanwhile, one of the Pakistani rebar mills’ Faizan Steel officially closed all rebar sales, effective immediately from February 24. The date of the reopening of sales has not been announced yet. Notably, it is not the first time Pakistani mills have closed their rebar sales. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, Faizan Steel, together with other mills Agha Steels and Union Steel Industry, stopped their sales back in January this year. According to market sources, other producers are likely to follow suit in March and may stop their sales as well.