While the import hot rolled coil (HRC) market in the North African region is still dominated by the Chinese and to a lower extent by Russian suppliers, the local mills have been adopting different price approaches in terms of the direction of export pricing.
According to sources, an Algerian mill is now targeting up to $600/mt FOB for June shipments of HRC, up from $570-580/mt FOB two weeks earlier. It is reported that the supplier is not under pressure to increase sales at present. In the meantime, Egypt has decreased its offers by around $5-10/mt over the past week, seeing naturally lower demand in the EU due to the antidumping of 15.6 percent. In addition, in Turkey, ex-China prices have fallen sharply over the past week, encouraging buyers to insist on lower offers from Egypt as well. In fact, this week Egypt has been offering HRC at $575/mt CFR Turkey for June shipments, while earlier the mill was targeting $580-590/mt CFR. Ex-Egypt FOB-based offers are now estimated at around $560/mt. Chinese offers for HRC to Turkey this week have been at $475-485/mt CFR.
In North Africa’s import market, offers have mainly been coming from China for end-of-May and early June shipments, while prices have varied depending on the importing country. In Egypt, offers have remained at $510-515/mt CFR, while in Algeria, according to sources, the levels have decreased by $5-10/mt to $525-530/mt CFR. In Tunisia, the offers are at $535-545/mt CFR, but for smaller volumes, SteelOrbis understands.
