The situation in the imported slab market in Asia has failed to improve much even despite the recent rebound in HRC prices in China. As fundamentally the HRC segment in Asia in general has not improved, slab prices have remained under pressure, SteelOrbis has been told by market sources.
The tradable level for ex-Russia slabs to China has been reported at $480-490/mt CFR, with one deal rumoured at this level, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. China was inactive in the import slab market for most of July with the previous large-volume bookings from Russia reported in early July at $505-525/mt CFR. The return of interest from China in slab purchases is positive, even though prices are low, according to sources.
Also, there have been reports about two sales from Iranian mills at around $440/mt FOB to traders for positions, which may be resold later to China or Southeast Asia. The CFR price is calculated at around $500-505/mt CFR.
Demand in Southeast Asia has been limited so far. Mills in Thailand “have no money or budget to buy,” a trading source said. Negotiations with Indonesia are going to resume soon though. Offers for ex-Russia slabs to Southeast Asia have been reported at $520-530/mt CFR, down by $10/mt over the past week.
Prices for ex-Indonesia slabs have dropped from $575/mt CFR Southeast Asia and above, to $550/mt CFR from one mill, though higher levels are still available from other suppliers.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Southeast Asia has been settled at $500-550/mt CFR, with the midpoint at $525/mt CFR, down by $15/mt over the past week as the higher end of the range lost $30/mt.
Slab prices in Asia may rebound in the coming weeks if the uptrend in the HRC segment strengthens and if demand gradually improves. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the price level for imported HRC in Vietnam has increased by $20/mt on average to $600-640/mt CFR.