This week, new offers for import HRC have recovered in Pakistan, mainly given the improved sentiments in China amid rises in HRC futures prices in the country. At the same time, trade activity has remained in general rather weak, with almost all offers coming from China, as other suppliers from South Korea are still out of the market. However, in the case of Taiwan and Japan, talk about new discounts on offer prices has been circulating in the market.
Specifically, offers for ex-China HRC have varied widely this week, with offers from Chinese traders for Q195 HRC heard at $530-535/mt CFR, up by $5/mt week on week, while offers for SS400 have been estimated at around $540-545/mt CFR. At the same time, while offers from Chinese traders for SAE1006 HRC have been heard at $560/mt CFR for June shipment, some Chinese suppliers of SS400B HRC have been offering their materials at $560-565/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, following ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC offers at around $630/mt CFR three weeks ago, new offers have been heard at around $580/mt CFR this week, though no deals have been reported so far. However, according to sources, offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been heard at $580/mt CFR, against $605/mt CFR two weeks ago, with a deal even reported at $580/mt CFR, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication. “I think the tradable level for ex-Japan is at around $570-575/mt CFR Pakistan, and we also heard they [Japanese sellers] have recently sold several batches in Bangladesh at $585-590/mt CFR,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
