Asian slab export trading activity has been rather weak in June, and prices have been moving down as some major producers have been eager to accelerate sales.
An Indonesian mill has been offering HRC grade slabs for August shipment at $495/mt FOB, down by $15/mt over the past week and down $20/mt compared to early June. The rather sharp drop has been due to very poor sales over the past few weeks, while the gap between slabs and billet prices has narrowed to $20/mt from $30/mt in early June.
Offer prices for ex-Vietnam slabs have been reported at $510/mt FOB. But only one deal is heard to have been done at this level, for the US market a week ago. Some US customers have been in negotiations for Asian slabs as ex-Brazil prices have remained high even after some reduction: the latest offers were at $580-585/mt FOB, while the tradable level is not above $570/mt FOB.
In the EU’s import slab market, activity is at a standstill and the mood is bearish. “This CBAM and especially the safeguard duty matter has frozen the market. The Italians want to pay $550/mt CFR, including CBAM costs, and that is just not possible at the moment,” a trading source said. The highest tradable level for Asian slabs in Europe has been assessed by market sources at $560-570/mt CFR, versus previous deals done in late May-very early June at $590-600/mt CFR.
In Turkey, the indications for Indonesian slabs have been standing at $540-550/mt CFR, which is down significantly from ex-China offers at $575-580/mt CFR for August shipment three weeks ago. However, with scrap prices also dropping, interest in import slabs in Turkey has remained limited.
In Asia’s import slab market, the latest deal for Chinese slabs was done at $510/mt CFR Southeast Asia, while now the tradable level is not above $500/mt CFR.
