The price idea of Turkish HRC producers for import steel slab is still not matching the offers of the suppliers, although the latter have slid over the week. Still, the size of the discount, even though some of the sellers are going short, is not enough to trigger transactions. The key reason for low bids is the weak HRC market and a number of uncertainties that could have an impact on the future price trend.
Currently, ex-Indonesia steel slab is offered to Turkey at $470/mt CFR, down from $485/mt CFR a week earlier, and, moreover, some small discounts are still possible. Ex-Malaysia offers have slid by $10/mt over the week to $480-485/mt CFR. In addition, India has restarted offers to Turkey for slab and is currently quoting $475/mt CFR, sources say. All of the mentioned cargoes are for February shipments. No transactions have been confirmed in the market since the buyers, although some of them are in need of restocking, are bidding not higher than $450/mt CFR for clean origins. “HRC is not stable and God knows what we will see in the coming months, but mostly the outlook is rather pessimistic. So to buy [slab] today for March delivery at best carries a lot of risks. Therefore, the price has to be as low as possible,” a producer told SteelOrbis.
Ex-Russia slab offers are a bit vague due to the upcoming holiday season. According to a few buyers, the sanctioned material is available at $435-440/mt CFR, $5/mt down from the lower end over the week. The price for the non-sanctioned slab from Russia is estimated at $450-455/mt CFR. However, the buyers’ price idea still seems to be at least $10/mt lower for both offers. The ex-Russia cargoes are for end-January and February shipments.