The situation in the Pakistani HRC market has continued to be bearish this week with buyers signing occasional deals, mainly for SS400 HRC, at lower levels with Chinese suppliers. At the same time, other foreign suppliers of SAE1006 HRC, like those from Japan and Taiwan, have dropped their offers to Pakistan as well, though trade activity has remained muted given no visible signs of a demand recovery, coupled with difficulties in opening letters of credit (LCs), while the Pakistani rupee has remained under pressure.
Accordingly, offers for ex-China SS400 HRC have been voiced at $640-645/mt CFR, versus $650-660/mt CFR last week, with several deals reportedly signed at the abovementioned level. At the same time, offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC through traders have been estimated at around $670/mt CFR, the same as last week.
Meanwhile, suppliers from Taiwan have decided to go lower this week, dropping their offers for SAE1006 HRC to $700/mt CFR, down by $10-15/mt week on week, while offers for ex-Japan HRC have been voiced at around $715/mt CFR, compared to $730/mt CFR at the end of last week. However, no deals have been reported so far, as “Pakistani buyers are expecting a further drop in the coming days, and are targeting $670-680/mt CFR,” a Pakistani trader told SteelOrbis.
