Buyers are afraid of an upward moving curve that may see today as the lower price in some time; hence, buying activity of flat products is up in Chile.
Ex-China deals in Chile transacted in the last week have been heard at $420-425/mt CFR for HRC, $475-495/mt CFR for CRC, $570-575/mt CFR for HDG, and $400-410/mt CFR for heavy plate. Both HRC and HDG are up $10/mt from numbers on the SteelOrbis report early last week, and the CRC range has widened $10/mt on the upward side of the range despite some deals still being heard at the $475/mt CFR transaction price which has held for the last two weeks. While heavy plate demand remained relatively weak in terms of volume, prices in transactions heard also moved up $10/mt from the previous week.
Import offers to Chile for December shipment were heard early last week at $445-450/mt CFR for HRC, $500-515/mt CFR for CRC, $585-605/mt CFR for HDG, and $410-420/mt CFR for heavy plate.
Today the top range for offers has increased approximately $10/mt and offers for December and January delivery are being heard at $445-460/mt CFR for HRC, $500-525/mt CFR for CRC, $590-615/mt CFR for HDG, and $420-425/mt CFR for heavy plate. A source close to SteelOrbis reports, “Interest in flat steel products pushed prices up in the last week. With Chinese futures markets optimistic plus raw materials up, offers are starting to move up again this week.”