The ongoing bullishness in the global hot rolled coil (HRC) market has continued to support prices of ex-Iran slabs. A higher price level has been confirmed in a tender closed recently.
Accordingly, SteelOrbis has learned of a fresh tender for 30,000 mt of steel slab closed by one of the main steel producers in Iran at $720/mt FOB BIK, for shipment in the middle of June. While the final destination has not been disclosed by the time of publication, the material is reportedly destined to be shipped either to Southeast Asia or to China. Although Asian buyers have maintained a cautious stance on slab imports, more attractive prices compared to offers voiced by other global slab exporters encourages traders to specifically purchase ex-Iran slabs. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, most offers for Russian and Asian slab in the Asian market are being voiced at $840-860/mt CFR, versus bids at $800/mt CFR. Theoretically, the price may be workable for China as well, though the situation there is a bit worse, with bids not exceeding $750/mt CFR for now.
Meanwhile, prior to this tender, the same steel producer in Iran had sold slab at 630/mt FOB BIK.