Indian plate prices reduced by $40-$44/MT in three months
Billet export prices have softened by US$5/MT and plate prices were reduced by US$4/MT during the week ended 20 Jan 2024 due to low demand in India.
Considering that an average ship size takes about 4 months to complete recycling from the time of purchase, it is worth noting that plate prices in India have been reduced by about US$40-44/MT from 20 Oct 2023 to 20 Jan 2024, according to a weekly report by Wirana Shipping Corp.
Ship recyclers are now worried at how they can control their losses as steel plate prices keep softening, noted the report.
The prevailing weaker sentiments could affect the ability of ship recyclers to maintain the current prices being offered for recycling tonnages.
However, local billet prices have seen improvement by about US$4/MT though the exact reason for such increase is not clear, said the report. Fiinews.com