The trading activities in the UAE for the import hot rolled coil (HRC) market have improved in recent weeks as import offers have been steadily going down, mainly from China and India. In fact, Emirati purchasers whose stocks have decreased are attempting to buy certain lots, but demand in the local market from the end users has yet to become sustained, so the domestic business activities in the UAE remain limited.
Particularly, India has sold 12,000 mt of HRC to the UAE at $588/mt FOB, which translates to around $625/mt CFR for June shipments. Last week, the official offers for this origin were at $630/mt CFR.
The HRC offers from China vary depending on the supplier. While traders have been kind of shorting the market with $570-575/mt CFR offers, relatively stable over the week, the Chinese mills have decided to offer $605-615/mt CFR. Both price ranges are for June-July shipping.
Additionally, ex-South Korea offers, which were previously at about $670-680/mt CFR, have dropped to $635/mt CFR, SteeOrbis has learned. However, since there are more competitive offers in the market, Emirati buyers do not find these levels attractive.
