The general range of ex-CIS HRC prices is rather wide these days since sales price levels depend on the destination, the quality and mills’ remaining allocations. The lowest price seen for now from the CIS is for small coils from Ukraine at $1,010-1,020/mt FOB, while the highest price has been fixed in sales to Turkey at around $1,085-1,095/mt FOB, SteelOrbis understands.
Ukraine’s Metinvest has increased its offers for Turkey by $20/mt over the past week to $1,040-1,050/mt CFR depending on the coil weight, with an estimated freight of $20-30/mt depending on the region. In addition, the supplier has sold a decent HRC lot to the Middle East at $1,050/mt CFR, which nets back to $1,010/mt FOB, SteelObis understands.
In the Baltic region, Russia’s Severstal has been selling at $1,270/mt FOB for late July-early August production in small lots. The supplier is focusing on the nearby European region for trade, taking into account that bids for southern Europe are at $1,110-1,120/mt FOB and below. “There is no normal demand in the south. Everyone booked their current needs from Asia and Turkey earlier, and for August [production] everyone is waiting,” a source told SteelOrbis.
Other Russian HRC producers have been acting depending on their allocation and activities in some alternative market destinations. One of them has sold a 20,000-30,000 mt HRC lot for July production to Canada at around $1,100/mt FOB Baltic Sea. In addition, a sizeable volume was traded to Turkey’s Iskenderun region at $1,070/mt CFR earlier in June, SteelOrbis has learned. Another ex-Russia supplier traded some of its limited allocation for July rolling to Turkey around 10 days ago at $1,110-1,120/mt CFR, sources report.
The market outlook is unclear for now, but most players share a cautious optimism. The EU is expected to start buying for the last quarter of the year soon, which will support HRC prices from Turkey and India in particular. In addition, the export duty announcement is still expected from China, which will most probably have a positive effect on the market pricing in the mid-term.