In its last supplies of material via the Iran Mercantile Exchange on August 3, Iranian state-owned mill Mobarakeh Steel raised again the prices for some of its products, i.e. for HRC, CRC, HDG .
On the date in question, Mobarakeh sold about 21,120 mt of cold rolled coil via the IME to local customers at Rials6.45 million/mt ($645/mt) ex-works with a long delivery period of 110 days and for payment in cash. This price marked an increase from the level of Rials 6.14 million/mt ($614/mt) for the producer's previous supply of cold rolled coil via the IME on July 21.
The above price increase of about $31/mt for Mobarakeh's cold rolled coil naturally affected the market prices. The local traders usually determine their prices by monitoring the transactions which have been completed through the IME. Meanwhile, the increased prices of flat products from foreign suppliers, especially from the CIS countries which hold a large market share in Iran, may be indicated as the second main factor which has helped to push up cold rolled coil prices in the local Iranian market.
Local traders in Iran already are offering 0.50-1.25 mm cold rolled coil at $770-830/mt and even higher, while this material stood at a price level of $750-800/mt two weeks ago . However, these new prices had not yet gained stablity coming up to the end of last week. The cold rolled coil market in Iran will settle at more definite price levels in the current week as traders adjust their prices depending on market conditions. Nevertheless, many traders are expecting to see higher prices this week due to developments in both the local and international steel markets.
While Iran's volume of cold rolled coil imports has declined since Mobarakeh raised its output about two years ago, this mill's production is unable to fully meet local demand and so the shortfall has to be imported. According to the Iranian customs authorities, Iran imported about 400,000 mt of cold rolled coil in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2009), while it imported about 160,000 mt in the first quarter of the current year.