Business conditions have remained challenging in the hot rolled coil (HRC) market. Accordingly, CIS-based exporters have decided to provide some discounts from the initially announced prices for June as actual trading has begun.
In the Black Sea region, Russia’s MMK has stepped back from the initial offers for June production HRC it voiced last week. The supplier has been offering $350-355/mt FOB for big coils to the Middle East this week, versus $360/mt FOB announced earlier. According to sources, small sales have been closed to Turkey at $365-370/mt CFR. Offers to Egypt have been reported at $370/mt CFR. In addition, there is information regarding 40,000 mt of sales by MMK to Vietnam at $382/mt CFR, with the freight estimated at around $30-35/mt, but this was not confirmed by the time of publication.
Ukraine’s Metinvest has sold medium-sized lots of small coils to Turkey at around $365/mt CFR, while big coil were recently traded at close to $375/mt CFR. In addition, the supplier has closed deals for medium HRC volumes to North Africa at above $370/mt CFR for small coils, SteelOrbis has learned. As a result, the producer’s workable level for small coils is estimated by the market sources as $350-355/mt FOB and around $10/mt higher for big ones. The supplier’s initial offers for June HRC had been at $360-365/mt FOB for small coils, in line with the latest deals for May production.
In the Baltic region, Russian producer Severstal has made a decrease of around $10/mt from the offers last week. The company’s HRC is available for the northern and southern EU at $400-410/mt FOB and $360/mt FOB, respectively. For the MENA region, the supplier is considering around $350/mt FOB. However, Turkish buyers have been reporting offers at €340/mt ($367/mt) CFR and consider small discounts possible, SteelOrbis understands.
