Prices for Japanese hot rolled coil (HRC) in the export market have continued to following the global price trend, having increased significantly only in Europe this month. At the same time, almost no allocations have been offered for ASEAN region, given slow demand and tough competition with Chinese suppliers. Besides, sales to Pakistan have remained limited as well due to the liquidity issues in the country. Thus, higher-priced market like the EU have remained the main trade destination for Japanese suppliers this month.
Offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC to Asian customers have settled at $710-750/mt CFR in late March, compared to $690-720/mt CFR last month, with the lower end of range corresponding to several big deals for May shipment HRC in Bangladesh. “Japanese suppliers have sold some important volumes on average at $710/mt CFR Bangladesh over the past weeks, which is basically the same price level as last month, but they are aiming to increase price for June shipments materials to at least $700/mt FOB,” a Bangladesh based trader told SteelOrbis. Meanwhile, trade activity has been extremely limited in other Asian countries, including Pakistan, where buyers have been struggling to open letter of credits for many months, and in Vietnam, where the competition with Chinese suppliers have been too tough. In particular, indicative offers for ex-Japan HRC in Vietnam have been reported at $730-750/mt CFR, while offers from China have been reported at $680-700/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, Japanese HRC exporters have continued to focus on sales expansion to Europe, offering at around €790-800/mt CFR southern Europe, versus €720-740/mt CFR in late February, standing in line with offers from South Korea, but less competitive than those from Vietnam, India and Egypt. “The main problem to sell in Europe is our long lead terms, for example, HRC which are bough now will probably arrive to Europe in September, because in August they are not working there due to the summer holidays,” a Japanese supplier told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, offer for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC have been rare in in the Middle East, standing at around $740/mt CFR, same as last month. No fresh deals have been reported so far, while more competitive offers for ex-China HRC have been heard at $720-730/mt CFR in the region.
Besides, according to market insiders, offers for ex-Japan HRC in South America have been heard at $755-765/mt CFR, which are considered to be the highest, compared to more attractive offers coming from China at $710/mt CFR and from South Korea at $730-740/mt CFR.