The tradable level for imported slabs in Asia has fallen further over the past week and most buyers have been voicing the targeted level below $700/mt CFR. The bearish trend in the HRC segment and weak China have been behind the recent decline.
There has been information about a contract for slabs to Taiwan at $690/mt CFR, but the details of it have not been disclosed by the time of publication. Ex-Indonesia slabs were sold at the same level a bit earlier to one of Asian customers.
In addition, the market has been hearing about a contract to Indonesia at $710/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication. “Buyers’ price ideas are below $700/mt CFR now,” a seller source said.
“The market is calm [in terms of buying]. Many sellers, not only Indonesian, are in the market, asking for bids from buyers,” a Southeast Asian slab importer said. A week ago, offers from many slab sellers were not below $725-730/mt CFR, but now “we are going to get below $690/mt CFR,” a source added.
The declining trend in slabs segment has followed the situation in the HRC market. Import HRC price in Vietnam has come down to $830-840/mt CFR recently, from $900/mt CFR on average seen in late October.
“Our utilization rate is 50 percent this month, but in December – unknown,” a re-roller from Asia said, explaining weak demand for the finished steel products in the falling market.
China has been out of the import slab market due to falling HRC prices in the local market with the latest tradable level has been reported at only $610/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Southeast Asia has slipped to $690-710/mt CFR, down by $10/mt on average from the last week level of $690-730/mt CFR.