Import slab prices in Asia have fallen further this week, reacting to bearish signals from the HRC market. As customers have been cautious in purchases, a price decline from mills has been inevitable as they have been trying to accelerate their sales.
A contract for at least 40,000 mt of ex-CIS slabs from the Black Sea has been signed at $680/mt CFR to Indonesia over the past week. This means prices have declined by another $10-30/mt from the previous contracts reported in the market earlier in November. “But prices [in next deals] would be even lower,” one of the big Southeast Asian importers said. New bids have been reported at $670/mt CFR or even below.
In the middle of November, most large slab exporters have been asking for above $700-710/mt CFR, down from $725-730/mt CFR in the first half of the month, but at the moment all offers at $700/mt CFR and higher are said to be too high.
The falling HRC market in Asia has been putting pressure on slab prices. Prices for HRC in Vietnam lost another $25/mt last week, coming to $815/mt CFR on average, according to SteelOrbis. “Demand is bad [for HRC and for slabs as a result], so prices have to be lower,” an Asian source said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Asia has decreased to $670-690/mt CFR, down by $20/mt on average from last week.
