Pakistani re-rollers have continued to accept higher prices for hot rolled coil (HRC), though with some degree of caution. Accordingly, at least two new bookings for small volumes have been done recently.
SteelOrbis has been informed of a transaction for 5,000 mt of ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC through a trading company at around $1,100/mt CFR Karachi LO. The final price corresponds to the initial level of offers from the supplier, but is higher than the most recent deals closed for HRC from Japan. Following the abovementioned deal, another Pakistani re-roller has entered the market with an inquiry for 10,000 mt of HRC. According to a source, the customer was aiming to purchase at $1,075 mt CFR, but failed to get the desired price. As a result, the material also changed hands at $1,100/mt CFR Karachi LO. In both deals, the cargoes are for shipments in August.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, in the middle of June Pakistani customers booked about 50,000-55,000 mt of ex-Japan SAE1004 HRC in total at around $1,080-1,085/mt CFR Karachi.