Import scrap activity in Pakistan has remained muted due to the continuous slowdown in construction activities caused by recent floods in the country coupled with the currency devaluation and further shutdowns by Pakistani rebar producers. Meanwhile, due to the lack of interest from customers, most offers for scrap have continued to decrease slightly this week.
Specifically, most import offers for shredded 211 scrap of UK origin in containers to Pakistan fell to $440-445/mt CFR, down by $5/mt over the past week. However, according to Pakistani buyers, several suppliers have been maintaining their offers at $450/mt CFR. “Most customers are refraining from new purchases on the back of continuous rains, while Pakistani rebar mills are overstocked and keep reducing and stopping production,” a Pakistani trader told SteelOrbis.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, Pakistani-based rebar producer Amreli Steels has announced its decision to extend its plant shutdown until October 1, instead of September 19 which had been announced previously. The company stated that it has sufficient stocks to meet demand from its customers during the period of shutdown.
According to market insiders, most major Pakistani mills have halted their orders from September 21. “Since frequent fluctuations of the US dollar resulting in devaluation of Pakistani rupee have impacted our higher input costs, especially prime imported raw materials, the management of the company has decided to put its orders on pause,” a Pakistani re-roller Platinum Steel stated.
Meanwhile, the price for local scrap equivalent to shredded in Pakistan has settled at around PKR 130,000-131,500/mt ($541-543/mt) ex-warehouse, the same as last week.
$1 = PKR 240.29