The recent increase in futures prices in China and better confidence in demand in September and October have positively influenced Asia’s slab export market. Some exporters have continued to increase offers, while in terms of demand there have also been some better signals with sales to India and Europe.
A fresh offer for ex-Indonesia slabs for October shipment has been issued at $440/mt FOB this week, up by $5/mt from last week. No new deals have been reported for Indonesian slabs as they are mainly for HRC production and not that popular in Europe, while in other sales destinations, like Turkey and Asia, buyers have been not ready for price increases. “Their major focus is HRC. We see that now Dexin’s billet and slab prices are the same, meaning they don’t care much and don’t see as good demand for slabs as for HRC,” an international trader said. Ex-China slabs for HRC production have been quoted at $435-440/mt FOB.
At the same time, there has been demand for ex-Vietnam slabs over the past two weeks. The major Vietnamese producer, which can offer slabs that can be used for production of narrow plate, signed at least two contracts to India first and then to Europe, at around $445/mt FOB. Also, one deal has been rumored to the US this week, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication and for this destination market sources believe that the price has to be higher, at above $450/mt FOB.
In Europe’s import market, this latest ex-Vietnam deal translates to around $490-495/mt CFR. Also, at least two Indian mills have been eager to sell slabs to Europe offering at $500-510/mt CFR. Ex-China plate-grade slabs have been quoted stable at $510-520/mt CFR, and some higher offers have also started to be voiced. Market sources believe that slab imports to Europe will be stable at high levels in H2 2025 as producers will try to buy material “which can arrive into the EU before the end of the year, to beat CBAM,” a trader said.
