Brazilian slab producers remain negotiating slab exports (US excluded) and domestic sales in a price range of $730/mt to $740/mt, FOB conditions, a range stable over the one-week period.
Similarly, slab sales from Brazil to the US remain negotiated in a range of $770/mt to $780/mt, FOB conditions, unchanged since last week.
Local players maintain expectations of an increase of prices in the short term, due to a slab production shortage estimated at 200,000 mt, resulting from a stoppage for repairs of the blast furnace number 2 of the Ipatinga plant of Usiminas.
In September, Brazil exported 596,100 mt of slab and did not receive imports of the product, against 535,300 mt and 84,600 mt in August, respectively.
In September, Pecem exported 123,300 mt of slabs at $932/mt to the US, 90,100 mt at $911/mt to Mexico and 7,800 mt at $951/mt to the Netherlands, while Ternium exported 159,700 mt at $1,009/mt to the US, 33,400 mt at $999/mt to the Netherlands and 23,600 mt at $912/mt to Argentina, and ArcelorMittal exported 83,600 mt at $995/mt to the US and 68,900 mt at $1,003/mt to Canada, all FOB conditions. A small volume was shipped in September by Usiminas to China.