Brazil exported 559,200 mt of slab in February, 5.7 percent less than in January, at an average FOB price increased by 6.5 percent to $377/mt.
Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP), the slab plant inaugurated in 2016 in the northeastern state of Ceara, was the top exporter with 298,000 mt at $354/mt, while ArcelorMittal Tubarao exported 143,700 mt at $414/mt and ThyssenKrupp CSA, recently sold by the German group to the Argentine-Italian group Ternium, exported 117,500 mt at $389/mt, all FOB conditions.
The main destinations were Asian countries (158,300 mt at $370/mt), the EU (131,700 mt at $374/mt), the US (103,700 mt at $389/mt) and Turkey (101,000 mt at $354/mt), all FOB conditions, with price deals probably closed in December 2016. Smaller volumes were shipped to Argentina and Canada.
Sources from two local steel producers told SteelOrbis that slab of the basic commercial grades are currently traded for export in a range of $395/mt to $425/mt, FOB conditions, a variation reflecting logistics costs associated to the location of the plants and the finishing quality derived from the newer, state-of-the art casters of the new plants.