Despite the continued rejection of higher import hot rolled coil (HRC) offers, Pakistani buyers ultimately have had no other choice than to accept the valid market prices.
Accordingly, having failed to purchase ex-South Korea HRC at the desired level of $760/mt CFR last week, with initial offers voiced by Japanese producer at $795/mt CFR this week a Pakistani re-roller has signed a deal for 20,000 mt of ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC HRC at $800/mt CFR Karachi, for May shipment.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, in the first half of February close to 10,000 mt of ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC was booked at $790/mt CFR Karachi, while afterwards Pakistani customers largely opted to hold back from trading activity, preferring to closely watch developments in the global steel market and wait for a reversal of the price trend.
On balance, following the acceptance of higher feedstock prices, it has not taken long for Pakistani producers of cold rolled (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils to adjust their prices upwards. On March 2, all key suppliers increased their prices by $19/mt (PKR 3,000/mt) compared to the previous offers.