This week, customers in the UAE have expressed interest in importing and purchasing lots of hot rolled coils (HRC), with a preference for Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese material. Even if some Emirati re-rollers in need of supplies have stocked up, industry players report that trade in the local market remains slow, particularly in the galvanized segment. Furthermore, as market activity has increased, the larger Indian mills have begun to offer to the UAE over the past week.
According to reports, Chinese suppliers sold 50,000-60,000 mt of HRC to UAE-based pipe producers at $520-525/mt CFR for January shipping. Meanwhile, current offers from China to the UAE remain at around $520-530/mt CFR, down from $525-535/mt CFR last week. Although HRC offers from Chinese suppliers have declined compared to last week, according to sources non-VAT traders have provided substantially lower offers to the UAE at $510-515/mt CFR.
On the other hand, Japanese and Taiwanese suppliers have sold HRC to Emirati re-rollers totaling around 30,000-40,000 mt at $530-540/mt CFR for January shipment. The previous deals from Japan and Taiwan were at $535/mt CFR and $538/mt CFR, respectively.
Additionally, HRC offers from Indian suppliers this week are mostly unchanged at $550-565/mt CFR to the UAE with no deals being completed. However, because of the UAE market's increased activity for imports, the larger Indian suppliers have made an appearance, albeit with offers at higher levels of around $565-570/mt CFR, which appear difficult to achieve given the current conditions in the market.
