Cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have continued to rise in the local Iranian market during the last two weeks, in line with the uptrend in the Iranian hot rolled coil market. Global prices of CRC have been trending up in recent weeks, providing support for local Iranian traders to raise their own prices of CRC. In addition, the high inflation rate in Iran as well as the approach of the Iranian New Year (March 21) may also provide support for the domestic CRC market in the coming weeks.
0.5-1.25 mm CRC produced by local Iranian rolling mills or imported by local traders (i.e., CIS origin or local CRC products excluding state-owned producer Mobarakeh Steel's products) has been sold at about $910-930/mt ex-stock Tehran, up from $900-925/mt about two weeks ago, up from $890-915/mt about five weeks ago and up from $870-900/mt about 10 weeks ago.
Local traders are offering cold rolled coils produced by the main Iranian flat steel supplier Mobarakeh Steel at about $920-955/mt ex-stock Tehran, up from $915-945/mt two weeks ago, at the same level as five weeks ago, and up from $895-930/mt about 10 weeks ago. Mobarakeh Steel's cold rolled coils usually stand at a higher price than CIS origin CRC or CRC from other Iranian mills, due to its higher quality.
On January 31, Mobarakeh Steel sold some batches of cold rolled coil through the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) at about $787/mt ex-works with 80-day delivery and for payment in cash. For several weeks now, Mobarakeh Steel has not changed its CRC sale price for the local market, while market prices have been trending up in the last few months.