As expected, with bearish sentiments in the Chinese HRC market mounting lately, Pakistani hot rolled coil (HRC) buyers have been seeking lower import HRC prices in negotiations. Thus, several deals at lower levels have been reported for mainly ex-China materials, while other foreign suppliers have been refraining from giving new offers in Pakistan so far.
Accordingly, this week, offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been voiced at $570-575/mt CFR, down by $15-20/mt over the past two weeks, with several small deals for around 1,000 mt reported to have been done at $570/mt CFR. Meanwhile, according to sources, a deal for ex-China SAE1006 HRC is reported to have been signed at $585/mt CFR Pakistan this week, while most offers have been voiced at $585-590/mt CFR, versus $600-605/mt CFR two weeks ago.
At the same time, other foreign suppliers like those from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have been mainly staying out of the Pakistani market, though the indicative offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $585-595/mt CFR, versus $595/mt CFR last week, while indicative prices for ex-Taiwan HRC have remained at $600-610/mt CFR, the same as last week.
“We expect Japan to announce new offers next week. But it seems domestic demand in Japan is stable and strong, so there is less allocation for export, especially for new customers,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
