On the import side, HRC offers given to northern Iran are in the range of $430-440/mt CFR, though it seems hard for these offers to gain acceptance. In addition, SteelOrbis has heard that high tonnage HRC was booked from South Korea to Iran at the level of $410/mt CFR at the beginning of May. Subsequently, Far East Asian mills also raised their HRC offers to Iran for May production.
On the other hand, as for the plate market, we last week mentioned that plate offers given to Iran were in the range of $490-495/mt CFR. While Kaavian Steel is the only plate producer in Iran able to produce plate of up to 1,200 mm width, the plate most in demand in the Iranian market is 2,000 mm wide material, all of which has to be imported. In spite of this, rumors of a possible increase in the import tax have caused a slowdown in purchases of imported plate.