Hot rolled coil (HRC) buyers in Egypt have been in the market for restocking, though they prefer not to rush as import prices, from the EU and the CIS specifically, have been falling day by day. As a result, only a few deals have been closed, but at a discount and for sizeable volumes.
According to market sources, up to 20,000 mt of HRC from Europe were sold to Egypt at the end of last week at around $430/mt CFR or slightly below. “This is a euro 1 material, so there is a clear advantage,” a trader mentioned. Ex-CIS HRC sellers have been under pressure lately, taking into account that Turkey, their key sales outlet in the Mediterranean region, has been almost muted in terms of demand. As a result, ex-Ukraine offers have been reported by Egyptian importers at around $390/mt CFR and above, while from Russia the levels are estimated at no higher than $410-415/mt CFR, SteelOrbis understands. It is worth mentioning that around 10 days ago one of the producers sold 10,000 mt to Egypt at $420/mt FOB.
In the export segment, Egypt’s HRC offers decreased by around $30-40/mt over the past two weeks to $470-480/mt FOB for May-June shipments. They level is considered as a not workable one in negotiations with Europe as there are more attractive levels from the CIS and Turkey. However, Egypt’s supplier may succeed in concluding sales to Saudi Arabia where the offers are at $490/mt CFR Jeddah, again down by $40/mt from two weeks ago.