After Chinese suppliers began raising their hot rolled coil (HRC) offers last week and continued to increase them this week, Emirati buyers, who had previously restocked, decided to hold off on buying mainly because of sufficient stock levels and unsatisfactory domestic end-user demand. Meanwhile, South Korea, seeing a lull in trading activity from the UAE, has postponed giving offers, like the Indian mills, in order to focus on their own market as well as on more favorable markets.
Accordingly, ex-China HRC offers for December shipment have risen by $5-10/mt week on week to $575-580/mt CFR to UAE. Nonetheless, Emirati re-rollers report that select Chinese suppliers continue to provide HRC discounts to about $570/mt CFR, although these prices appear difficult given the current Chinese market trend.
In contrast, Indian and South Korean suppliers have chosen to postpone their offers since Emirati buyers are not actively participating in trading and prefer cheaper offers and just limited quantities for their stocks in line with their needs.
