Import scrap offers to India have been either stable or higher over the past week amid freight cost increases, even although buyers have continued to remain on the sidelines, lacking the appetite to conclude deals against the backdrop of declining finished steel prices and low raw material requirements from secondary mills operating furnaces at reduced capacities, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, July 22.
Sources said that offers of containerized shredded scrap of UK/Europe origin have increased to $385-390/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port in the west, compared to $375-385/mt CFR a week ago, with sellers citing tighter supplies and higher freight costs, but these levels have been unworkable for buyers who were heard to be bidding much lower at $370-375/mt CFR.
HMS I/II offers, however, are stable in the range of 330-335/mt CFR. According to the sources, small-volume trades comprising two ex-Australia lots of 2,000 mt each were booked at $330/mt CFR Chennai port in the south.
An official at a medium-scale EAF operator said that import scrap prices are not viable as higher costs cannot be passed onto consumers at a time when finished long products are mostly being sold at discounts. Furthermore, he said that the furnace is being operated at utilizations levels of 70-80 percent and limited scrap requirements are being sourced locally.
“Barring small tonnages of certain grades like busheling or bundles required by operators for producing specialized products, interest in bulk imported scrap is minimal owing to currency and trade logistical risks,” a Mumbai-based ferrous and non-ferrous scrap trader said.
“Sellers are also not willing to adjust CIF-based offers, citing rising shipping costs and risks in the wake of the renewed conflict in the Middle East. Finished steel prices do not permit these raw material costs to be absorbed,” he added.
