Even while the UAE domestic market has been slow in comparison to previous weeks and imports have remained quiet, the desire to restock has continued to be observed in the other GCC countries throughout the past week. As a result, despite the cheaper options from Chinese suppliers, numerous GCC customers have continued to choose Indian HRC at high prices and with short shipment times.
According to information obtained by SteelOrbis, a trade for 20,000 mt of ex-India HRC for delivery to Bahrain has been reported at $640/mt CFR, while another lot of 15,000 mt is reported to have been sold for an Omani steel mill via an international trader at $635/mt CFR. Moreover, a mill in eastern India has reported a deal for 15,000 mt for delivery to Qatar at $635/mt CFR, but the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Meanwhile, current ex-India offers for end-of-January shipment remain stable week on week at $635-640/mt CFR.
Similarly, ex-China offers for SS400 HRC to the UAE have remained firm week on week at $600-620/mt CFR for February shipment. While the majority of offers are at approximately $600-610/mt CFR, other buyers report prices from Chinese first-tier mills in the range of $615-620/mt CFR.
On the other hand, offers for SAE1006 grade HRC for February shipment have gone up by $10/mt to $630-640/mt CFR to the UAE.
Meanwhile, South Korean suppliers are still not offering to the GCC, but are instead focusing on their local market which is more profitable.