According to HRC buyers globally, Japanese HRC suppliers secured several big deals to different Asian countries at quite high levels at the end of last week, right before Chinese suppliers returned from their holiday, anticipating a slump in prices.
More specifically, around 20,000 mt of ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC were sold in India at around $620/mt CFR last week.
Furthermore, according to sources, while trade activity has remained slow in Vietnam, Japanese suppliers have succeeded in SAE1006 HRC sales to other Asian countries. Thus, around 10,000 mt were sold to Bangladesh at $590-600/mt CFR, while around 10,000-15,000 mt are reported to have been sold to Pakistan at $585-590/mt CFR, at the end of last week.
“This week Chinese HRC sellers decreased their offers significantly to $560-570/mt CFR Pakistan, so buyers estimate the tradable prices for ex-Japan HRC at $570/mt CFR, though they [Japanese suppliers] have not announced new offers so far,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.