With the significant price increase on US flat rolled products, suppliers are trying to push for higher US slab prices as well.
US slab demand continues to be slow-there are not a lot of transactions to be seen in the market. Re-rollers are buying conservatively and carefully to avoid any sudden change in the market, managing their slab inventories at low levels. And with the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, it is expected that the US slab market will remain more or less the same for remainder of the month.
Although domestic slab demand is tepid, with the support from the recent significant US flat rolled price increases, slab suppliers are trying to raise slab prices by approximately $40 to $50/mt to the level of $560 to $580/mt FOB loading ports. As the market is anticipating another US flat rolled price increase to be announced before the end of the month, the US slab market is expected to follow the upward pricing trend.
On the other hand, the coal accident at the Brazilian Praia Mole terminal in November created a shortage of coal. Therefore, some Brazilian mills may need slab tonnage in order to continue the steel production, which would impact the slab supply condition.
The latest data from the US Department of Commerce's Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system show that the total amount of slab imports into the US in the month of November was 178,548 mt, reflecting a decrease of 35,279 mt when compared to the figure in October 2010. The main countries that exported slab to the US in November include: Canada, at 53,123 mt; Brazil, at 50,015 mt; Russia, at 40,017 mt; and Germany, at 35,392 mt. Italy also exported a smaller amount of slab to the US during the period.