Pakistan’s import scrap market has edged up slightly over the past week, supported by firmer overseas offers and continued uncertainty in international markets. However, trading activity has remained limited, as buyers are still cautious amid weak finished steel demand, slow construction activity, the lack of successful peace talks in the Iran war, and limited visibility for June demand.
More specifically, ex-EU shredded scrap offers have been heard at $423-430/mt CFR Qasim this week, up slightly from recent workable levels of $420-425/mt CFR reported last week. According to sources, some deals had previously been done at levels close to the current range, but no fresh deals have been reported since last week. Meanwhile, ex-UK shredded scrap has been offered at $425-426/mt CFR, remaining substantially close to the $425-428/mt CFR levels at which deals were concluded last week. At the same time, some sellers have continued to target $430/mt CFR, though buyers have remained reluctant to book aggressively. Overall, workable prices for ex-EU/UK shredded scrap are currently assessed at around $423-426/mt CFR.
“The market has no clear stability for now, as international and Middle Eastern developments continue to affect sentiment,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, in the Pakistani domestic market, activity has remained slow, with construction demand still weak and some mills operating below 40 percent of capacity. Local scrap equivalent to shredded has been heard at PKR 152,000-156,000/mt ($546-560/mt) ex-warehouse, down from around PKR 160,000/mt ($574/mt) ex-warehouse heard last week. At the same time, local 10-12 mm grade 60 rebar prices have remained at around PKR 245,000/mt ($879/mt) ex-works, unchanged from last week, though some sources have described the market as stable to slightly upward.
Mills are expected to continue purchasing scrap only according to immediate needs, unless finished steel demand improves in June.
All prices on Pakistani rupee basis include 18 percent VAT.
$1 = PKR 278.62
