International slab prices decreased significantly in May due to lowered buying activity in the flat rolled products market.
After four consecutive months of price increases, international slab prices have retreated since April. Currently, some CIS suppliers are offering slab to the US at approximately $675 to $685/mt CFR, registering a significant decrease of about $70/mt from a month ago. The US flat rolled market is currently marked by lowered buying activity due to decreasing prices, therefore re-rollers are reluctant to purchase slab. Although this has resulted in a sluggish slab market, there are still some slab shipments being seen. Moreover, re-rollers have already obtained the slab tonnages they need for the second quarter, so they are not eager to purchase slab at the moment, contributing to the softening slab prices.
While slab demand is slow, slab availability is plentiful in the market. However, some slab suppliers are not interested in selling slab for the time being and holding up the tonnages to sell later when re-rollers resume buying for the third quarter. But industry insiders speculate that slab prices will stay around the current price levels or even come down a little bit for the third quarter.
The latest data from the US Department of Commerce's Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system show that the total amount of slab imports into the US in the month of April was 482,781 mt, reflecting a decrease of 1,875 mt when compared to the figure in March. The countries that exported slab to the US in April were: Brazil, at 136,274 mt; Canada, at 89,782 mt; Australia, at 73,601 mt; Russia, at 69,189 mt; Mexico, at 66,002 mt; and Japan, at 47,406 mt. Other countries that exported a smaller amount of slab to the US include Italy and the United Kingdom.