Indian scrap market remained largely inactive during the past week as domestic secondary steel mills turned cautious in making fresh bookings for both local and imported scrap, preferring to wait and watch price trend in semis and raw material, traders said on Wednesday.
According to sources, ex-UAE imported scrap prices softened marginally in range of $240-245/mt CFR Nhava Seva port in western India but no secondary steel mill reported any significant bookings during the past week. However, there have been also information that offers for shredded scrap from different sources increased to $255/mt CFR, while the previous transactions have been at $250/mt CFR.
Local scrap prices maintained at INR 21,500/mt ($301/mt) ex-stockyard at Mandi Govindgarh in northern India. Prices also remained stable at INR 21,000/mt ($294/mt) ex-stockyard at Alang in western India. “Local scrap importers are wary of committing bookings in a hurry. Interest in local scrap is minimal barring small volume purchases by small secondary steel mills in the unorganized sector,” a member of Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI) said.
$1 = INR 71.4