Despite the bearish mood in the HRC segment in Asia, most major slab exporters have declined to provide lower prices to buyers in the region. Moreover, cheap alternative slab offers in Southeast Asia have started to disappear.
A booking for ex-Russia slabs was done to Indonesia at $920/mt CFR about ten days ago, SteelOrbis has learned. Subsequently, an offer for ex-Vietnam slabs has been reported at $910-920/mt CFR and new offers from Russia have been seen at $920/mt CFR and above. This means that buyers are facing a lack of cheap alternatives nowadays.
Earlier in June, ex-Malaysia slabs were available at $875/mt CFR and even below, but at the moment no firm offers have been heard from this destination.
In the Asian HRC market, sentiment has been weak due to subdued demand from Vietnam and declining prices in China. The import HRC price in Vietnam was at $940-950/mt CFR late last week, down from $965/mt CFR on average a week before. Local HRC prices in China have declined by RMB 260/mt ($40.2/mt) over the past week, according to SteelOrbis.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs to Asia has been settled at $920/mt CFR, versus $860-920/mt CFR last week, as prices at the lower levels are not present in the market at the moment.
