Ex-CIS slab sellers have managed to sell at relatively high prices to the EU and Latin America last week. However, the regular destinations, such as Turkey, are not that much supportive and the CIS-based mills have decreased their price for this market.
At the end of last week two slab lots 20,000 mt each ex-Ukraine were traded to Italy and to Latin America at $920/mt FOB, in line with the lower end of the general offer range from the CIS, valid at that time.
Turkish market has remained silent in terms of the slab trade. On one side, the HRC prices have moved down over the week and the demand has been insufficient. In addition, some aggressive slab offers have been coming from the alternative destinations. According to sources, ex-India suppliers have been voicing $860-870/mt CFR for August shipments. “The price might be interesting but in general Turkey might not risk long deliveries and also there are some quality issues, making the Indian slab not entirely suitable here,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
Still, the offers from the CIS have decreased significantly over the week to the Turkish market. Today, most of the sources report the levels of $920/mt CFR versus $940-960/mt CFR early last week. Moreover, the buyers consider $910/mt CFR as easily achievable. However, the CIS-based sellers say the silence prevails. “There is no buyer to negotiate with, no one is asking at the moment,” a source said.
As a result, ex-CIS slab prices are now estimated at $900-920/mt FOB Black/Azov sea depending on the destination, down by $10-20/mt over the week. Moreover, the lower end of the range is considered as the realistic one and most of the sources expect the prices to soften further once the serious negotiations start in the Turkish market.
In the Far East the ex-Russia slab price situation is once again being affected by the low-priced Indian semis. Latest deal was closed from Russia to Indonesia at $920/mt CFR, netting back to $900/mt FOB. However, taking into account the ex-India offers to Southeast Asia have been reported at $870-880/mt CFR, the workable level for the ex-CIS slabs is expected to be lower now, SteelOrbis understands.