Import scrap prices in India have remained stable at higher levels for shredded and have indicated a further slight improvement for HMS with trade activity increasing and with HMS scrap deals holding center stage amid continuing bullish conditions in the local construction grade steel market, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, August 30.
The reference price for imported shredded scrap has been almost stable from last week, at $435/mt CFR, versus $432-437/mt CFR. A deal for 1,000 mt of ex-Europe containerized shredded scrap was confirmed at $437/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port in the west and another deal for 1,500 mt at $435/mt CFR Kandla port.
According to sources, there have been reports of ex-US shredded scrap offers at $430-432/mt, but not many sellers of this material have been active. A trade for 1,000 mt of ex-US shredded scrap was heard in the market at $430/mt CFR Nhava Sheva, but this could not be confirmed in trade circles. A deal for 500 mt of ex-UK shredded scrap was reported at $435/mt CFR, the sources said. Some of these deals were done late last week.
However, much of the activity and attention was focused on ex-West Africa HMS scrap, largely because of the lower prices and shorter delivery timelines. A deal for 2,500 mt of ex-West Africa HMS (80:20) scrap was confirmed in the range of $410-412/mt CFR Nhava Sheva and another deal for 1,500 mt was done at $414/mt CFR Mundra port in Gujarat. Last week, the trade price was $410/mt CFR at the highest.
“Local secondary mills have gained a lot of strength to restock aggressively following the strong performance of the rebar market both in terms of prices and trade volumes. With a lot of chatter about the construction grade steel market entering a shortage situation, mills are rapidly concluding import deals,” a Mumbai-based ferrous and non-ferrous trader said.
“Traders too are replenishing stocks ahead on higher demand and lower supplies from the local northern market of Mandi Govindgarh. There is a slowdown of scrap supplies in the west and, with prices poised on a continued uptrend, local users are rushing to conclude bookings,” he said.