Following a rather long period of negative sentiment in China, which had been affecting the flats market situation in major sales outlets, this week flat steel offers have finally started to recover. Still, some Asian suppliers are taking their time to increase offers with confidence and some of them have even cut prices, bringing them closer to the market reality. Even though import offers are now at acceptable levels, end-user demand in the UAE domestic market has remained sluggish and is still exerting downward pressure on the market. In addition, many market players assume that China’s rebound will be a shaky and temporary one.
Over the past week, ex-China offers for July shipments have risen to $590-600/mt CFR, up from roughly $570-575/mt CFR before. In contrast, a large Indian mill has decided to reduce its price by $10-15/mt over the past week to $615/mt CFR, again for July shipments, while some other mills are still not offering to the UAE. However, it is anticipated that other mills will begin to offer, also given higher export price expectations.
Additionally, ex-South Korea offers, which were previously at about $635/mt CFR, have dropped to $555-600/mt CFR for July-August shipments, SteeOrbis has learned.