This week, UAE buyers have remained mute on purchases and have chosen to monitor the market as import offers have begun to show some upticks compared to the previous week. Since Emirati and other GCC customers were active and bought a considerable amount of HRC in the last several weeks, there is no rush to import. As a result, HRC suppliers expect lower demand after this week, as the GCC approaches the holiday period, with local demand lately beginning to decline.
“There have been no new deals since import offers started to increase, but demand in the local market is quiet due to Ramadan, so we expect things to pick up after the break,” a source told SteelObis.
Currently, China, which sold several SS400 HRC lots to the UAE at $495-500/mt CFR, has raised its price at the higher end by just $5/mt to $495-505/mt CFR, for April shipments.
A similar increase has been seen among Indian suppliers, with SAE1006 offers now set at $520-530/mt CFR for shipment in April, while last week's deals were done at around $510-520/mt CFR.
Furthermore, according to sources, Japanese and Taiwanese suppliers have also increased their offers compared to previous weeks. Currently, Japanese suppliers’ HRC offers are roughly at $520/mt CFR, up from $510-515/mt CFR, while Taiwanese suppliers are offering at $525-530/mt CFR, up from $525/mt CFR, for May shipment.