Japanese HRC exporters were forced to offer discounts to most overseas customers in the first half of July due to intense competition from other Asian suppliers. However, by the third week of July, market sentiment had turned more positive regarding the future price trend, largely driven by bullishness in the Chinese HRC futures market. This has already led to a slight price recovery for ex-Japan HRC.
Specifically, in the last week of July, offers for ex-Japan SAE1006 HRC for the Asian region have settled at $495-515/mt CFR, rolling back to the offers reported in late June and increasing by around $5-10/mt since mid-July. According to sources, Japanese HRC suppliers have been struggling less than before to attract the attention of Vietnamese buyers, given the imposition of antidumping duty against ex-China HRC in Vietnam, with indicative prices heard at $510-515/mt CFR. Meanwhile, following several deals for ex-Japan HRC in Pakistan at around $490/mt CFR two weeks ago, offers for ex-Japan HRC in Pakistan have settled at around $495-510/mt CFR in the last week of the month. Besides, in Bangladesh, Japanese suppliers have been offering at $495-500/mt CFR, with only a few buyers interested in bookings.
In the meantime, Japanese suppliers have been offering their coils at around $500-510/mt CFR to the Middle East, versus $500/mt CFR reported a month ago and against deal prices at $490-500/mt CFR during past weeks. According to sources, business activity has been rather limited in the region given the tight competition with Chinese sellers. However, given the recent increase in ex-China HRC offers on the back futures price growth, most Japanese sellers have been aiming for more hikes as well.
At the same time, Japanese suppliers have remained out of the European market due to trade restrictions. In the last week of July, indicative offers for ex-Japan HRC have been heard at around €470-500/mt CFR southern Europe.