Brazilian slab exporters remain negotiating shipments for May at $820/mt, FOB conditions, the same reference over the last two weeks for non-US destinations.
For exports to the US, the negotiations also remain framed by a range of $850/mt to $870/mt, under the same conditions.
The prices remain dictated by the small difference in prices between slab and HRC, with reduced margins left for the HRC producers. According to sources, at least one exporter has already concluded its sales for shipments in May, with plans to start negotiations for shipments in June in two weeks.
Preliminary figures are indicating that slab exports from Brazil in March should exceed the 563,200 mt exported in February.
No slab imports were registered in the Brazilian ports during the first four weeks of March, while in February CSN imported 63,900 mt of the product from Russia.
The Brazilian domestic slab market currently faces a shortage of the product, as CSN remains having technical problems that are reducing its slab production, and at Usiminas, the main blast furnace of the Ipatinga plant remains idled for revamping.
Meanwhile, with the higher prices achieved by ArcelorMittal Pecem and Ternium in its slab exports, it is not clear so far is such companies will have material available at competitive prices for domestic sales.
