On February 12, SteelOrbis reported baseline prices for ex-China flat steel to Chile at $610-615/mt CFR for HRC, $650-655/mt CFR for CRC, and $715/mt CFR for HDG with discounts of $10-15/mt across all grades to incentivize buys prior to the New Year holiday.
Sources inform SteelOrbis that they are awaiting offers for some time early next week and are “anticipating a hike though the magnitude is yet unknown.” The anticipation of higher prices is attributed to robust pricing throughout all steelmaking raw materials and recent announcements by various Chinese government entities regarding mining and production limitations in China on environmental policies. Production restriction discussions in Tangshan, for example, that will cover the March to November period are expected to be adopted. Other regions are expected to also expand the winter cutbacks.
A source noted that while offers may be higher next week, the long-term outlook is difficult to assess as the various US restrictions under discussion with the Section 232 investigation, along with protectionism in other countries, may result in additional flat steel supplies to export markets such as Latin America, thereby taming upward price movements later in 2018.