Sources told SteelOrbis that a “significant volume” of slab was sold by Brazilian producers in the country’s domestic market, for shipments in September.
Negotiations with clients in the US reportedly remain unsettled, but producers maintain optimism about concluding deals until the end of this week, which is considered the deadline to book for September shipment.
The producers were not able to close the domestic deals at their target price of around $960/mt, FOB conditions. Instead, the prices were reportedly closed in a range of $920/mt to $940/mt for the basic commercial grades, FOB conditions.
The closure of deals in the domestic market paves the way for similarly priced deals with the clients in the US, as the prices in the two markets are usually closed in an equivalent price range.
Preliminary figures from customs are now pointing to a volume of slab being exported in July slightly higher than the 580,300 mt exported in June.
Such figures are also indicating that 115,000 mt of slabs have entered Brazilian ports so far in July, in average at $754/mt, FOB conditions.