A source in Brazil told SteelOrbis that one slab exporter has closed a 150,000 mt slab export deal with a client in the US at $950/mt, FOB conditions, against a previous reference of $915/mt, under the same conditions.
According to the source, the deal was closed for shipment in July, adding that no deals have been closed so far in May for clients outside the US. The source mentioned that only 50,000 mt of slab are still available for shipments in July.
Expectations are for even higher prices in the short term, due to increased demand in the merchant slab market, coupled with a shortage of slab derived from production problems in producers of different world regions.
In April, Brazil exported 562,800 mt of slab, of which 447,500 mt to the US, in an average price level of $753/mt, FOB conditions, with different quality grades and price deals probably closed in February.