Bangladesh Leads South Asian Ship Recycling Market as Alang Shows Signs of Recovery: BEST OASIS
Bhavnagar, August 1:
World’s largest Cash Buyer for ships sending for recycling, BEST OASIS, in their weekly ship recycling market report opined that the South Asian ship recycling market displayed mixed trends during the past week, with Bangladesh maintaining its position as the region’s strongest recycling destination, while India’s Alang yard showed encouraging signs of renewed buying interest despite relatively weak domestic market fundamentals.
According to the latest market assessment, recyclers across the Indian subcontinent remained active, although competition for available demolition candidates intensified. Bangladesh and Pakistan continued to outperform India in terms of pricing and buyer confidence, while Türkiye’s market remained stable but less competitive due to significantly lower offered prices.
Alang Buyers Return to the Market
India’s Alang ship recycling yard witnessed an improvement in market sentiment during the week as local buyers actively sought fresh tonnage after losing several recent recycling opportunities to competing yards in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and Gadani, Pakistan.
Although domestic demand for recycled steel products remains subdued, recyclers continued to show selective buying interest. Market participants noted that overall activity in Alang is still below the stronger levels currently witnessed in Bangladesh and Pakistan, but the renewed appetite among buyers reflects improving confidence.
Recent acquisitions of vessels from the so-called “dark fleet” also provided limited support to trading activity, although buyers remained cautious and selective while evaluating available ships for recycling.
Industry observers believe the Indian government’s long-term investment plans for expanding port infrastructure, ship repair facilities and shipbuilding capacity across Gujarat could strengthen the state’s maritime ecosystem. These initiatives are expected to generate positive spillover effects for Alang and support the ship recycling industry over the coming years.
Current indicative prices in Alang remained unchanged at around USD 450 per LDT for container vessels, USD 420 per LDT for tankers and USD 405 per LDT for bulk carriers.
Bangladesh Retains Leadership
Bangladesh continued to lead the regional ship recycling market, with Chittagong recyclers maintaining strong buying interest despite a recent decline in domestic melting scrap and steel plate prices.
Industry participants remain optimistic as the monsoon season gradually comes to an end, allowing recycling operations to accelerate. An increasing number of recycling yards complying with the Hong Kong International Convention (HKC) are also becoming operational, further strengthening the country’s processing capacity.
These favourable market fundamentals are expected to support stable and gradually improving ship recycling prices in the coming weeks.
Bangladesh continued to offer the highest prices in South Asia, with indicative levels at USD 500 per LDT for container ships, USD 490 per LDT for tankers and USD 445 per LDT for bulk carriers.
Pakistan Market Remains Healthy
Pakistan’s Gadani recycling market also remained firm during the week, supported by healthy demand from local recyclers.
The continued absence of imported steel from Iran has sustained domestic steel demand and strengthened buyer sentiment. Local recyclers remained interested in available recycling candidates, and market conditions are expected to remain stable in the near term.
Pakistan’s indicative buying prices stood at USD 480 per LDT for container vessels, USD 470 per LDT for tankers and USD 460 per LDT for bulk carriers.
Türkiye Stable but Less Competitive
Türkiye’s ship recycling market remained largely unchanged, with no significant movement in vessel availability or buyer demand.
The country continues to attract a limited number of shipowners seeking compliance with European Union Ship Recycling Regulations. However, its considerably lower price levels continue to reduce competitiveness compared with South Asian recycling destinations.
Turkish recyclers were offering approximately USD 285 per LDT for container ships, USD 275 per LDT for tankers and USD 265 per LDT for bulk carriers, making the market substantially less attractive for conventional demolition candidates.
Commodity Prices and Exchange Rates
International steel scrap prices remained unchanged during the week. HMS 1&2 (80:20) scrap was quoted at USD 385 per tonne in both India and Bangladesh, USD 390 in Pakistan and USD 375 in Türkiye. Shredded scrap prices also remained steady at USD 395 per tonne across all major recycling destinations.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil fell by USD 7.10 per barrel, while WTI crude declined by USD 4.21 per barrel, easing bunker-related costs.
Among currencies, the Indian Rupee strengthened against the US dollar, with the exchange rate improving from 96.50 to 95.52. The Pakistani Rupee also posted a marginal gain, while the Bangladeshi Taka and Turkish Lira weakened slightly during the week.
Weekly Vessel Sales
Several notable recycling transactions were concluded during the week. The 16,708 LDT tanker “Forever” was sold for delivery to Chittagong at USD 522 per LDT, the highest reported price of the week. The 4,991 LDT tanker “Lyra” was sold on an as-is basis at Sohar, Oman, for USD 475 per LDT.
Additional vessels sold included the multi-purpose ships Bagus and Ever Delight, both delivered to Chittagong at undisclosed prices, while the 3,902 LDT fish factory vessel Basar was delivered to Alang, India, with the sale price remaining undisclosed.
Overall, market participants expect Bangladesh and Pakistan to continue dominating regional ship recycling activity in the short term, while Alang’s improving buyer interest suggests India may gradually regain competitiveness if domestic steel demand strengthens in the months ahead.
Author: shipping inbox
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