2-5 mm hot rolled coil is currently being sold by local traders at $550-590/mt ex-stock Tehran, compared to the range of $565-610/mt the week before and to $610-640/mt three weeks ago.
On January 5, Mobarakeh Steel managed to sell about 80,000/mt of hot rolled coil at about $535/mt ex-works with 45-day delivery and deferred payment through the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), though Mobarakeh had been offered a higher volume of about 95,000 mt. In normal conditions, market demand generally exceeds the supply volume offered by Mobarakeh; however, the existing stagnation is so strong that the supply volume has this time surpassed demand
For a few weeks now Mobarakeh Steel has been selling hot rolled coils at about $535/mt in the local market while deferred payment has become the norm in recent weeks - Mobarakeh was selling its products for cash on delivery a few months ago. However, in spite of the sales policy implemented by Mobarakeh, the current strong stagnation in the market forces local traders to sell their material even at less that the quoted prices.
Foreign suppliers are at present offering hot rolled coil at prices lower than those of Mobarakeh. Russian suppliers, which hold the largest market share among foreign suppliers, are now offering hot rolled coils at $440-460/mt CFR Iranian northern ports (Anzali port) on the Caspian Sea - a price which is $75-95/mt less than Mobarakeh's sales price. In this context, Mobarakeh and other local suppliers are trying to convince the Iranian authorities to impose a customs duty of at least 20 percent on hot rolled coil.