Despite still weak finished steel sales in Pakistan given extremely low capacity utilization rates of longs steel manufacturers coupled with slow construction activities due to paused government projects, import scrap prices have increased this week, with even a few deals reported at higher levels.
Accordingly, new offers for ex-UK shredded scrap in containers have been reported at $470-472/mt CFR, versus $465-470/mt CFR last week. Meanwhile, according to sources, although business activity has remained weak due to the ongoing issues with opening letters of credit (LC), several deals for small tonnages (around 500 mt each) are reported to have been done at $468-470/mt CFR this week.
Meanwhile, prices for 10-12 mm rebar of grade in Pakistan have settled at PKR 306,000-307,000/mt ($1,167-1,171/mt) ex-works, though the tradable prices have remained at around PKR 300,000-303,000/mt ($1,144-1,155/mt) ex-works. Besides, offers for local scrap equivalent to shredded have remained at around PKR 194,000/mt ($740/mt) ex-warehouse.
All prices on Pakistani rupee basis include 18 percent VAT.
$1 = PKR 262.23