India’s import scrap prices have remained largely stable, but market activity has slowed down owing to the national elections and uncertain long product prices, while on the supply side the rise in freight costs and the reported shortage of containers have weighed on new bookings, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, June 5.
Ex-Europe containerised shredded scrap has been reported at $415-420/mt CFR Nhava Sheva port in the west, with HMS (80:20) scrap at $395-400/mt CFR, both stable over the past week.
A deal for around 2,000 mt ex-UK containerised shredded scrap was heard at around $417/mt CFR, the sources said.
“A number of market participants said that sellers have not been very active in submitting offers following the rise in freight rates and the shortage of containers, and they have been unsure whether the higher costs will be acceptable for local buyers. This has kept trading activity at almost nil. At the same time, local secondary mills were preferring to defer new bookings for a few days as the national elections drew to a close and a new government about to take charge,” a Mumbai-based ferrous and non-ferrous trader said.
“The local rebar market too is showing a lot of volatility and secondary mills are low on raw material stocks, but are holding back from restocking until such time sales margins stabilise,” he said.