The ongoing downtrend in the global hot rolled coil (HRC) market has continued to force foreign suppliers to decrease their offers to Pakistan as well. However, even with the announcement of lower prices, most Pakistani buyers have been refraining from signing new deals, being quite confident of a further decrease. Thus, trading activity has been dented in Pakistan this week.
Accordingly, Chinese traders have continued to offer position cargoes to Pakistan at lower levels this week. Most ex-China SS400 HRC offers from traders have been heard at $690/mt CFR, compared to $770-775/mt CFR last week, though some Chinese sellers have already dropped their prices to $665-670/mt CFR this week. Meanwhile, ex-China offers for SAE1006 have settled at $740/mt CFR, down by $45/mt week on week.
In the meantime, suppliers from Taiwan and South Korea have decreased their offers to $780/mt CFR, down by $20-40/mt over the past week, and, according to market insiders, the suppliers are asking for bids. Suppliers from Japan, who sold their materials at $820-830/mt CFR last week, have been staying out of the market this week.