Brazilian slab producers have closed most of their exports to the US at $950/mt, FOB conditions for the shipment in July, a local source told SteelOrbis.
The source confirmed that a sale of 60,000 mt was closed at the equivalent to $980/mt in the Brazilian domestic market, considering ex-works conditions, no taxes included.
With negotiations for shipments in August scheduled to start next week, sources say exporters will try to establish $1,000/mt FOB as the new reference price for the basic commercial grades.
Analysts believe that the current HRC prices in the US are high enough to maintain a healthy margin for sales, even with the slabs used as feedstock at such price, the highest in recent years. Just one year ago, Brazil was exporting slab at $350/mt FOB.
A scenario persists of a solid demand for slab not only in the US and Brazil, but also in Europe, with problems on the supply side, where slab producers are failing to achieve their production targets in different world regions.