Having lost China as their main customer due to recent developments there, including the continued drop in local prices and the significant decline in Chinese interest in import material, Iran-based suppliers of steel slabs have stepped up their efforts to search for customers in other destinations.
As a result, a few cargoes of ex-Iran steel slabs have recently been sold to traders, with the material destined to be shipped to Southeast Asia. However, on the back of the downward trends worldwide, Iran-based suppliers have been forced to offer attractive prices in order to obtain the orders.
Accordingly, while at the end of last week, a 10,000 mt lot of ex-Iran steel slab changed hands at $655/mt FOB, by the middle of this week, a deal for 40,000 mt of ex-Iran slab has already been heard at $640/mt FOB BIK. This is a $20/mt decline in prices compared to the bookings done three weeks ago. The destination has not been confirmed by the time of publication, but, if it is shipped to Southeast Asia, the CFR price is assessed to be at around $700/mt CFR. For now, it corresponds to the lowest levels of offers from other suppliers. The latest deal price levels for ex-Russia slabs in the region in question have been at $735-740/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.