The situation in the Asian slab market has remained unchanged in terms of prices over the past fortnight, but with rather limited demand in major outlets the pressure on sellers has increased.
Ex-Asia slab prices have been stable in the range of $445-460/mt FOB, but there have been upward or downward corrections depending on the supplier. In particular, an Indonesian mill is offering slabs for February shipment at $448/mt FOB, which is up by $3/mt compared to two weeks ago. But it has managed to sell at least one cargo at discounts of $3-5/mt on the current offer. Also, Vietnamese producers are targeting $455-460/mt FOB, but the tradable level for decent volumes can be reduced to $445/mt FOB for HRC grade slabs and $455/mt FOB for plate grade slabs. “Even if offers are higher now, with no demand mills will have to give discounts,” a source said.
In Europe’s import slab market, offers for Asian plate grade slabs are still at $520/mt CFR, but large mills are targeting $500-510/mt CFR at the highest in the next deals. It seems that large Chinese mills may have more advantages in terms of CBAM costs compared to ASEAN mills after their low-emissions upgrades. HRC grade slabs from Asia are available at $500-505/mt CFR, but no interest has been seen for now, though some mills may be eager to buy combined volumes of HRC and slabs, in case of discounts, market sources believe. “There are no negotiations because the Europeans are fed up with the CBAM uncertainties,” a market source said.
In Turkey, negotiations for ex-Indonesia slabs have been heard at below $480/mt CFR, while offers were at $485/mt CFR two weeks back. The Malaysian mill is inactive in the slab segment.
In Southeast Asia’s import slab market, the lowest end of the range corresponds to the price from the sanctioned Russian mill at $445-450/mt CFR, while some offers for ex-China HRC grade slabs were at $450-460/mt CFR last week and are a few dollars higher now. Ex-Indonesia slabs are quoted at $468/mt CFR.