Business activity in the European and Turkish import slab markets, which have been rather lively during the past few weeks, has slowed down somewhat as buyers have filled their stocks for now. Accordingly, Asian slab suppliers have been seeking sales to other outlets and have achieved deals in Latin America and Southeast Asia recently.
In Turkey, the latest deal was closed last week for ex-NLMK steel slabs at $850/mt FOB or close to $900/mt CFR for the regular-sized lot. The ex-Russia deal level is as expected much lower than the market price and the offers for alternative origins, taking into account the high risks due to sanctions. Chinese offers for slabs are at $1,000/mt CFR, down $10-20/mt from most of the offers last week. Ex-Vietnam slab is available in Turkey at $1,050/mt CFR, versus $1,060/mt CFR seen last week. Indonesia did not change its offers and is at the same price levels as Vietnam, but buyers say the Indonesian supplier is not so eager to sell nowadays.
In the EU, business activity in the slab segment has weakened somewhat, following the large volumes booked in the previous week. A majority of the tonnage was purchased from China and currently buyers have decided to take a step back. The latest offers for ex-China slab in Europe have been reported this week at $1,040-1,050/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. “I think prices will come down because the initial rush to cover ‘lost’ supply has subsided,” a trader said.
As a result, Asian slab sellers have been trying to find takers in other outlets. For instance, one lot of 30,000 mt of ex-ASEAN slabs has been sold to Americas at $1,025/mt CFR for May shipment. The seller has been actively checking for opportunities in Europe, but has failed to sell there. “Prices seem to have dropped a little. We see it by lower bids from traders,” a representative of an ASEAN-based seller said.
In addition, in total 40,000 mt of ex-Malaysia slabs were traded to Southeast Asia at $920/mt CFR last week. One of the Indonesian suppliers has also returned to the Asian market, offering $920-930/mt CFR. Some sources said that Asian buyers have been silent for almost the whole previous month, so a resumption of trading has been expected.
SteelOrbis has increased its imported slab reference price in Asia by $15/mt on average week on week to $920/mt CFR, though some customers are still bidding at not above $900/mt CFR.
Offers for ex-Russia slabs have been heard at $50-70/mt below ex-ASEAN prices on CFR basis, but no new deals have been reported. Due to increased risks for both payments and shipment, ex-Russia slab prices have been excluded by SteelOrbis from the import reference prices in Asia for now.