Since Ramadan has started, trade and end-user demand in the hot rolled coil (HRC) market in the United Arab Emirates has slowed further. In the meantime, import offers from China and India have continued to fall, whereas Japanese suppliers' offers have remained stable. Although offers, particularly those from China, continue to be among the cheaper and more appealing possibilities, players in the Emirati market have reported that the silence in trading has come from slow local demand and unstable import prices.
“The market continues to be slow with little movement in business activities since the start of Ramadan. In addition, import prices are rapidly decreasing, and so everyone is waiting and watching the market before restocking again,” a UAE re-roller commented to SteelOrbis.
As a result, ex-China HRC offers to the UAE have dropped by $10-20/mt in the past week, to $560-570/mt CFR for April shipment. Furthermore, according to unconfirmed reports, some Chinese traders are heard to be offering at $550/mt CFR.
On the other side, Indian suppliers have offered HRC offers to the UAE at roughly $600-620/mt CFR, down from $615-635/mt CFR before. However, according to Emirati purchasers, offer prices from India are on the low side but remain higher compared to offers from China.
Additionally, this week offers from Japanese suppliers have been received at similar levels of $620-630/mt CFR for April shipment.
