Import scrap prices in India have been kept largely stable this week with sellers taking their cue from global trends, but local buyers have also stayed away from concluding any trades owing to the combination of the weak local currency, sufficient domestic supplies, and finished steel showing fresh weakness, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, November 27.
Ex-UK/Europe containerized shredded scrap offers are unchanged at $390-395/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port, but bids have all dropped to $380/mt CFR at the highest. So, the reference price has been cut by $5/mt over the past week to $380-390/mt CFR.
The tradable level for ex-UK HMS scrap has remained at $365-370/mt CFR, while offers have been heard at the higher level of $375/mt CFR at best.
The sources said that the Indian rupee was breaching 84.50/mt against the US dollar, pushing up the landed price of imports which is considered unviable by induction furnace operators at a time when rebar prices have started to lose ground amid a fresh demand depression.
“The new downcycle in finished steel prices has undermined confidence in raw material restocking among secondary mills. At the same time, raw material prices like scrap seem to have bottomed out and may possibly rebound as sellers are unwilling to adjust prices according to lower bids from local buyers,” a Mumbai-based ferrous and non-ferrous scrap trader said.
“The rapid depreciation of the Indian rupee, the worst performer against the US dollar among Asian currencies, is also making mills keen to avoid currency risks and the higher landed price of imports,” he said.