Egypt’s Ezz Steel has decided to temporarily stop offering its hot rolled coils (HRC) to the export markets after having reached a new high in its sales price levels. Since prices in the region have been rapidly increasing, the supplier is most probably aiming to wait and evaluate further developments in the market.
Early last week, according to sources, Ezz Steel sold some 10,000-15,000 mt of HRC for March shipment to Spain at $700/mt FOB. Later, its offers increased by $10/mt and the producer managed to fix a small or medium-sized cargo at $710/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned. Indicative offers to Saudi Arabia are estimated at $720-725/mt CFR Jeddah. In the local Egyptian market, HRC offers are much lower than export prices due to slow demand. The local prices are currently at $663/mt (EGP 10,400/mt) ex-works, excluding 14 percent VAT.
In the import segment, offers from China have been reported at $685/mt CFR, and offers from Turkey at $700-710/mt FOB with freight estimated at $10-15/mt. In addition, Russian mills are said to be offering at close to $675-680/mt CFR Egypt.
$1 = EGP 15.68
