Indian imported scrap prices have continued to harden with sellers maintaining their inflexibility on offers, citing improving global trends even though restocking by local Indian secondary mills has eased slightly, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, April 7.
Ex-Europe containerized shredded scrap prices have been reported at $425-430/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port in the west, compared to $422-428/mt CFR a week ago. The deals in the prior week were reported at the lower end of the range, but now most offers are closer to the higher end. Also, ex-UK and ex-West Africa HMS offer scrap prices have been quoted in the range of $390-395/mt CFR, similar to last week, but in deals suppliers still agree to the previous slightly lower prices.
According to the sources, among the limited trades during the past week was a tonnage of 5,000 mt of ex-UK HMS scrap transacted by a western Indian secondary mill at $385/mt CFR Kandla port. Another deal for 2,000 mt ex-Europe containerized shredded scrap was reported by an eastern India-based mill at $432/mt CFR Haldia port.
“Buyers’ confidence is waning for multiple reasons. Local rebar prices after a robust surge are looking to face a correction, prompting mills to turn cautious on restocking raw materials now when prices have hardened. National elections are to get underway in a day and businesses are facing compulsions of election funding, putting strains on fund availability,” a Mumbai-based ferrous and non-ferrous scrap trader said.
“Going forward, buying will be tempered by prospects of a rise in freight rates following Iran-Israel geopolitical tensions. We are hearing that freight rates can go up by at least 10 percent immediately for shipments from Europe. The Indian currency has also hit a historical low of INR 83.50 to the US dollar. Hence, risks for imports are rising and this is keeping imports at a low level,” he said.