A source in Brazil told SteelOrbis that one slab producer will offer until June 30 a deal to ship a volume of slab to a client in the US during August. The deal will be the last one for shipment in August and will be closed in a price range of $980/mt to $990/mt FOB.
The producer has decided to postpone the $1,000/mt price target for shipments in September, as in his view the price in the merchant slab market will be positively affected by the export tax imposed on Russian slab exports.
The slab price is also expected to benefit from the approval by the Brazilian house of representatives of a cautionary measure, allowing producers located in export processing zones (ZPE), to sell all their production in the domestic market. This includes Pecem, which so far was allowed to sell a maximum of 20 percent of its slab, in value, in the domestic market.
“With an expanded market for slab, the price is expected to increase,” the source said.
Preliminary figures from customs are pointing to an increase, in June, from the 464,400 mt of slab exported from Brazil in May.