No new HRC sales have been reported to the GCC in the past week, though at the end of last week Omani purchasers in need of stocks purchased some supplies from China. Meanwhile, despite decreased trading activity due to holidays and extended projects, some Chinese suppliers began to raise their offers over the past week due to higher futures prices in China. However, the majority of GCC buyers have no intention of considering higher levels and prefer to consider the previous levels which are still available.
Omani buyers purchased 15,000 mt of HRC from China at $480/mt CFR at the end of last week. ex-China SS400 HRC offers to the UAE have increased by $5/mt week on week to $490-500/mt CFR for July shipment. However, since GCC buyers are not attracted by the higher levels, some Chinese suppliers continued to offer the previous lower levels at around $480-485/mt CFR.
In the meantime, due to the limited trade and attempts to hike import offers, particularly from China, Japanese suppliers remain mute and have not made any new offers to the GCC. Previously, offers from Japan were at around $495-500/mt CFR, for shipment in July.
In contrast, offers from Indian suppliers remain unchanged at $550/mt CFR, but there is not much interest in them as the prices are very high given the GCC market levels, causing Indian suppliers to concentrate more on their domestic market.
