The global hot rolled coil (HRC) markets have been showing upward movements in different regions, with some experiencing slight price increases, while other markets have remained stable amid slow trade. Ex-China HRC prices have showed a slight upward bias as sentiment has improved, though trading has remained sluggish. Ex-India HRC prices has remained stable amid quiet activity, while India's import HRC trade has remained slow due to the safeguard probe, with only sparse ex-Japan deals observed. Vietnam's import HRC market has edged up slightly, suggesting the bottom may have been reached. In Turkey, HRC prices have remained stable, though CRC and coated steel prices have softened, while UAE buyers have continued to delay new orders due to volatile import offers. Meanwhile, the EU HRC market has showed stronger sentiment as mills have introduced new price hikes.
Sentiments among Chinese HRC mills have started to improve as the mood has changed slightly in the Chinese HRC market given the slight rebound in HRC futures prices. However, only a few suppliers have increased their offers slightly, while most producers have maintained their offers at the same levels as last week. Export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC from most large Chinese mills have settled at $470-490/mt FOB, with a midpoint at $480/mt FOB, up by $5/mt week on week. Besides, offers from traders, which last week had declined, have rolled back this week, though trade has remained slow. By the end of the week, tradable prices for ex-China SS400/Q235 HRC have settled at $465-475/mt FOB, against $460-475/mt FOB at the beginning of the week.
Ex-India HRC prices have been stable at $485-510/mt FOB in the past week amid continued silent trade conditions as buyers across key markets like the Middle East and Europe have been staying away from imports expecting significant changes in new price trends, impacted by changes in tariff regimes across global trade, ongoing antidumping investigations in the EU and the unclear price trend in China. Offers for ex-India HRC in the Middle East have been voiced at $525-530/mt CFR, mainly the same as last week, though, according to sources, buyers in the Middle East have been seeking deals in the range of $500-520/mt CFR, which have been unacceptable to Indian mills, leading to offers being withdrawn. Besides, ex-India HRC offers in Europe have been reported at $585/mt CFR, though no deals have been reported.
In the import HRC segment, however, although trade activity has remained sluggish in India due to the impending 25 percent safeguard duty amid concerns over cheap imports, market insiders have reported several deals for ex-Japan HRC during past weeks at $485-490/mt CFR for around 60,000 mt in total, while other foreign suppliers have been staying out of the Indian market in past weeks.
In Vietnam, a slight rebound has been seen in import prices from Chinese suppliers supported by the recovery of HRC futures prices in China. However, given no significant signs of a demand recovery in Vietnam’s market coupled with still slow trade for flat products in the main destinations overseas, most market insiders believe that for now the uptrend in Vietnam is shaky, though most believe import HRC quotations, especially from China, may have hit the bottom. By the end of the week, offers for ex-China Q235 and Q195 HRC have increased to $475-480/mt CFR mainly for end-of-March and April shipment, up by $1-5/mt since the beginning of the week and against $468-470/mt CFR last week. Meanwhile, the SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam has settled at $495/mt CFR, against $480-495/mt CFR in the middle of the week and up by $5-15/mt week on week as more offers for ex-China HRC have increased to $495/mt CFR, against $480/mt CFR previously.
The Turkish HRC market has been fairly quiet in terms of price changes this week, mainly since demand has remained insufficient, while import scrap prices and HRC offers from China, the main foreign supplier, have remained rather firm. In fact, China has been offering at $485-490/mt CFR this week for large Q195 HRC lots, while the market has been buzzing with talk about deals at around $482-487/mt CFR done at the end of last week. In addition, a Russian supplier has traded medium sized-lots to Turkey this week at around $510-515/mt CFR, according to sources, almost in line with the sales closed earlier this month. In addition, while Egypt has been silent for now, there have been fresh offers for HRC from Asia, namely, Taiwan and Japan, at $520-525/mt CFR. In the domestic market in Turkey, the realistic price levels have settled at $545-555/mt ex-works for now. As regards exports, $540/mt FOB is mostly targeted, while some bids have been reported at $520-530/mt FOB. In fact, the interest in Turkey’s HRC in the EU has been lower recently, following the rather massive HRC import bookings closed by European customers from Malaysia and Indonesia.
In the UAE, trading activities have remained quiet this week as HRC import prices have fluctuated. While Chinese suppliers display some increases owing to rising futures prices, others have kept their offers stable week on week. As a result, ex-China SS400 offers to the UAE have increased slightly, by $5-15/mt, to $495-510/mt CFR, for March shipments. On the other hand, Indian suppliers have decided to maintain HRC offers at $525-530/mt CFR for end-of-March shipments, the same as reported last week. Likewise, offers from Japan remain unchanged from last week, at $510-515/mt CFR for June shipment to the UAE, whereas Taiwanese suppliers are still not giving offers to the UAE.
The European HRC market has continued to show signs of improvement, with local mills targeting more price hikes anticipating that the upward trend will persist further, particularly until the European Commission releases the results of its ongoing steel safeguard review, which are expected at the end of March, with the new regulations expected to take effect in April. Mills in northern Europe have been offering HRC at €620-640/mt ex-works for deliveries in the second quarter, while offers from mills in Italy have settled at €610-630/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt over the past week. In the import segment, business activity remains significantly affected by trade measures, with most offers moving sideways or up slightly over the past week. Import offers have been voiced at €550-600/mt CFR, against €530-590/mt CFR last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to offers for ex-Indonesia HRC at €550/mt CFR, while indicative offers from South Korea and India have been voiced at €560/mt CFR. According to sources, import deals from Asia have been minimal in the region except for Indonesia and Malaysia which have managed to sell around 150,000 mt in total of HRC during past weeks at $550/mt CFR. This week, meanwhile, one transaction for ex-Japan HRC has also been reported at $475/mt FOB in the UK.