Sources told SteelOrbis that negotiations between Brazilian slab producers and their clients started today for shipments during January 2022.
According to the sources, producers believe that the increased production costs, chiefly energy, will ultimately reduce the production of slab in different world regions, positively impacting the price of the product.
Expectations are now for a price range of $760/mt to $770/mt FOB for sales to the US, and $720/mt to $730/mt FOB to other destinations, including the Brazilian domestic market.
Previous expectations were for $750/mt and $710/mt FOB, for US and non-US destinations, respectively.
There are reports indicating that the last deals for shipment in December were closed in a price range of $740/mt to $760/mt FOB, destined to Mexico, which points to the possibility of even higher prices emerging from the current negotiations.
Preliminary numbers remain pointing to a decline, in October, from the 596,100 mt of slab exported from Brazil in September.