Business activity has failed to recover in most regions globally considering the continuing weakness of demand in most outlets. Meanwhile, most global HRC producers, including those from Europe, Turkey, China, India, and Vietnam have been keeping their offers stable at high levels despite resistance from buyers. At the same time, Asian suppliers have been the most active in offering their materials this week, trying to boost sales to higher-priced markets such as Europe and Turkey.
In Europe, business activity in the HRC market has been weak this week, with local mills maintaining their offers unchanged given high energy costs and cuts in production, while most distributors have not been interested in new purchases, struggling to move their already high stocks. Official HRC prices from European mills have settled at €780-820/mt ex-works, compared to €780-850/mt ex-works last week. However, while €780-800/mt ex-works offers have been coming from producers in Italy and €800-820/mt ex-works from northern Europe, the tradable level for both regions is estimated at €750-770/mt ex-works, the same as last week. Meanwhile, most import offers have remained unchanged, with only some suppliers providing discounts, though the interest in import coils has remained minimal in Europe. offers to southern Europe have been reported at €680-730/mt CFR, depending on the origin, down by €20/mt on the lower end of the range week on week. In particular, several offers for ex-Japan HRC have been voiced in Italy at €680-700/mt CFR, compared to €700-720/mt CFR last week. However, prices from other suppliers have remained mainly unchanged.
The Turkish flats market has maintained relative price stability this week since the mills have avoided providing discounts amid their high production costs. Although demand for HRC has remained silent, prices have been maintained at $660-690/mt ex-works locally and lower production levels have helped the mills to retain these offer levels. Export offers have also been stable, at $670-700/mt FOB, but sales have been poor since the market in the EU has not been active enough for these price levels. In the import HRC segment in Turkey, an increased number of offers from Asia has been seen. South Korea has been trying to sell at $640/mt CFR and similar levels have been offered from China. India’s prices are on the higher side - at around $650-660/mt CFR, though not workable for Turkish buyers. Russian suppliers have started selling for November shipments with the offer level of $620/mt CFR. Not many are ready to deal for these cargoes, at least for now.
Indian HRC exporters, who had attempted to push up prices or hold back offers last week riding on the back of the strong rebound in local demand and realizations, have still been insisting on these higher levels, even though overseas buyers refuse to purchase. The focus of Indian producers has been more on their local market lately. Ex-India HRC prices have been reported in the range of $580-600/mt FOB, while the midpoint has remained unchanged from last week at $590/mt FOB, but the range has narrowed by $10/mt. Though most large mills are still offering at around $600/mt FOB (+-$10/mt), buyers have not accepted any increase, having better options.
In China, most big domestic mills have decided to roll over their export prices, offering boron-added SS400 HRC at $580-610/mt FOB for November shipment, with a midpoint at $595/mt FOB, down by $2.5/mt week on week. However, the tradable level has dropped in contracts to Vietnam, Pakistan, and South Korea. The tradable level for ex-China SS400 HRC has settled at $550-570/mt FOB, down by $15-25/mt over the past week. At the same time, Domestic HRC prices in China are at RMB 3,930-4,030/mt ($552-566/mt) ex-warehouse on September 23, with the average price level RMB 25/mt ($3.5/mt) lower as compared to September 16, but higher by RMB 20/mt ($2.8/mt) since the previous day, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
In Vietnam, import trade activity remained slow this week. Several deals for ex-China SS400 HRC have been signed at $570/mt CFR, compared to $570-580/mt CFR last week, while new bids from Vietnam have been reported at $565/mt CFR. Meanwhile, ex-China offers for SAE1006 HRC have remained limited, and indicative offers have dropped to $600-610/mt CFR, compared to $610-620/mt CFR last week. At the same time, offers for ex-India boron-added coils have been heard at $625-630/mt CFR, which are considered to be too high for most Vietnamese importers. At the same time, following the decision of Vietnamese mill Formosa Ha Tinh Steel to roll over HRC prices, another major local producer Hoa Phat Group has announced its new local prices, holding them stable for November-December shipments at $595-600/mt CIF. SteelOrbis has decided to cut its weekly reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam to $600-610/mt CFR, from $610/mt CFR last week.