After having increased by $20/mt last week, offers for Brazilian slab exports have increased again by $20/mt this week, achieving price levels in the $490/mt to $500/mt FOB range for the basic commercial grades.
Sources mention that the uptrend reflects the reduced availability of the product in the short term, coupled with increased domestic demand, chiefly from Usiminas.
One source added that prices should not exceed such levels by a large margin over the next few weeks, as the current prices are already exceeding international prices, making imports of the product more viable despite Brazil not being a traditional importer of slab.
Exports to Asian countries are now in a range of $530/mt to $540/mt CFR and to Europe in a range of $510/mt to $520/mt CFR.
For exports to the US, CFR prices are now in a range of $508/mt to $518/mt to the East coast and $512/mt to $522/mt to the West coast.
ArcelorMittal is expected to restart the blast furnace Number 3 at its Tubarao plant during the second half of October. Idled since April 2020 due to lack of demand, its restart is set to add 3.0 million mt of yearly slab capacity when the ramp-up process is concluded, which will certainly impact the supply/demand balance of the merchant slab market, currently estimated worldwide at 17.4 million mt per year in the supply side, against a demand of 16.3 million mt per year.