All quiet in North African flat steel market ahead of Ramadan

Flat steel demand in Egypt and Tunisia is currently weak. While flat steel demand in the North African markets is expected to revive after Ramadan, which this year is in August, buyers are currently delaying their purchases.
 
As SteelOrbis has previously reported, due to slack demand in the Egyptian domestic flat steel market, local steelmaker EZDK has kept its domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices unchanged, at the level of EGP 4,350/mt ($730/mt) ex-works, exclusive of 10 percent tax. However, the producer has reduced its export offers. Amid slow demand coming from Europe and the Middle East, EZDK has reduced its HRC export offers to $740-745/mt FOB, from $760-770/mt FOB. While some market insiders state that even this price range is relatively high for the European market, some say that among buyers who intend to conclude bookings ahead of Ramadan, this price level may gain acceptance.
 
SteelOrbis has learned from market sources that, in line with weak flat steel demand in Tunisia, the domestic market has remained sluggish in general. Russian HRC offers to Tunisia are currently at $750-780/mt CFR, while Russian cold rolled coil (CRC) offers stand at $860-900/mt CFR. Although Russian offers for the Tunisian market have remained almost unchanged as compared to last month, due to summer lull and the approach of Ramadan demand can be described as slow.