One Brazilian slab exporter has reportedly concluded its sales for shipments in August and is planning to start sales for shipments in September during next week.
According to sources, the first deals for shipments in August reached levels of up to $670/mt for the API grade product, while the last sales most recently, covering only material of the basic commercial grades, were closed at $600/mt, both FOB conditions.
For shipments in September, the market has seen an unexpected increase of demand for both API and commercial grades, raising expectations that the base for negotiations should start with a reference of $600/mt for the commercial grades and a possible increase over the subsequent weeks.
In May, Brazil exported 762,100 mt and imported 47,700 mt of slab. Preliminary numbers of June are now indicating that the Brazilian slabs volumes of exports should be lower than in May, while two imports, of 30,000 mt and 20,000 mt were so far registered by customs.