Import HRC prices in Pakistan have remained mainly unchanged over the past week with most suppliers, including those from China and Japan, maintaining their offers stable or declining them only slightly. Meanwhile, most Pakistani customers have preferred to take their time to evaluate current market developments.
Accordingly, ex-China SAE1006 HRC offers have settled at around $483/mt CFR, compared to $485-490/mt CFR last week. While no deals have been reported for SAE1006 HRC so far, Chinese traders have managed to sell a few cargoes for 3-12 mm Q235 and 3 mm Q195 HRC to Pakistani pipe makers at $470/mt CFR and $470-473/mt CFR, respectively, for June shipment, according to sources.
In the meantime, offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been voiced at $500/mt CFR, the same last week, with a deal for around 30,000 mt signed at the abovementioned level at the end of last week.
According to sources, market sentiments have been worsening given further fluctuations in the HRC futures market in China. Thus, most Pakistani buyers expect to sign new deals with additional discounts. In particular, as of April 24, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,204/mt ($443/mt), increasing by RMB 13/mt ($8.9/mt) or 0.4 percent since April 17, while down 0.12 percent compared to the previous trading day, April 23.
