Even though in recent weeks, Emirati buyers have expressed interest in importing, particularly Chinese material, the fall in futures prices in China has caused the majority of UAE customers to remain reluctant to book due to the possibility of lower prices in the following week. However, Chinese suppliers have continued to raise prices this week, and, according to some Chinese market participants, demand in the export market is currently good and so they have no intention of lowering prices.
“Chinese suppliers are trying higher levels but currently there does not seem to be buying at these prices from the UAE, because everyone is looking for HRC below $600/mt,” the representative of a major UAE re-roller commented to SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, ex-China offers for SS400 grade have increased to $590-610/mt CFR, compared to $590-600/mt CFR for January shipment. Furthermore, according to sources, offers for SAE1006 grade have settled at $610-620/mt CFR, up from $610/mt CFR in the previous week.
In the meantime, South Korean and Japanese suppliers who offered last week at $655/mt CFR and $620-630/mt CFR, respectively, have decided to withdraw their offers due to lower-than-expected demand and the price volatility in the export market.