The negative sentiments in the global HRC market changed to positive last week and as a result Japanese producers have voiced their plans to increase prices for March shipment material. However, most of them are in a waiting position now and are not widely giving firm offers.
Prices for ex-Japan SAE1006 2 mm HRC for February shipment were going down in a few rounds, touching $765-775/mt CFR in deals in the Asian region in early January. This is approximately $80/mt below the levels seen from Japan in Asia in early December.
But “now mills have stopped offering and will hike prices,” a Japanese representative said, adding that the new target for the Asian market is $800/mt CFR (as the lowest) and above. He added that it was possible to book at $790/mt CFR over the past week, but by now most sellers are not active, as they believe that the strong uptrend will be seen after the Chinese New Year holidays.
“The market price seems to be picking up after a long period of price declines over the last several months, mainly due to the price hike for raw materials, according to the mills,” a Japanese trader said. Ex-Australia hard coking coal prices hit a historical high of $445/mt FOB late last week, while iron ore is hovering at above $130/mt CFR.
The latest deal for ex-Japan HRC to the EU was last week at €785/mt CFR to Spain, which is equivalent to $896/mt CFR. There have been no new offers from Japan to the Middle East and Turkey. “There are no offers for March shipment onward, since buyers are also cautious about the situation. The mills might wait until the holiday ends,” a source said.
