North African HRC suppliers have mainly focused on the domestic sales, where the price levels and the business conditions are rather favorable, while the exports have been quite challenging. Still, some of the negotiations with the EU customers have been successful, SteelOrbis has learned. In the import segment, ex-Russian material has been sold at the lower end of the price range while the highest – from Turkey – is not yet considered workable.
The current HRC price in the domestic market of Algeria is at DZD 99,500/mt ($631/mt) ex-works base, while in Egypt the local price has settled at EGP 39,000/mt ($650/mt) ex-works. In both markets, the demand is reportedly at a quite high level and buyers are currently restocking, but the potential of the demand in Egypt is slightly lower than the one in Algeria, SteelOrbis understands. Export offers from Egypt have been not reported this week but the players assumed that in Turkey, which is one of the main markets for Egyptian HRC, the reachable price would be at around $620/mt CFR or around $595-600/mt FOB, which is quite a bit lower than the local workable price. In Algeria, the latest FOB indications have been reported at $725-735/mt depending on the cargo and the destination, the upper end of the range has been reportedly fixed in a medium deal to the EU.
Import offers from China for HRC for June shipments have been set at $550-555/mt CFR in Egypt, and at $565-570/mt CFR base in Algeria, both not considered workable at the moment. Still, while Egypt is not willing to buy from China, specifically in large lots, Algeria might choose to book some volumes for thin gauge material, but at a discount. The latest deals for small HRC lots from China have been reportedly closed to Africa at $487/mt FOB or around $540-545/mt CFR, SteelOrbis estimates.
Russia remains the cheapest source of HRC in North Africa with the latest deals closed for the sanctioned material at $520-525/mt CFR MENA region, up from $505-515/mt CFR reached at the beginning of the mill’s sales for June shipments. Overall, one sanctioned producer traded a total of 90,000 mt of HRC within the mentioned price ranges mainly to North Africa, Levant countries and to the GCC (small lots to Jeddah). The non-sanctioned producer, according to market sources, has traded a medium lot to Egypt at around $540/mt FOB, which makers around $570-575/mt CFR or slightly lower than that, sources evaluate.
Ex-Turkey HRC offers to North Africa are the highest currently – at $650-660/mt CFR Egypt for June and July shipments. “If discounted, Turkey’s offers might be interesting to the buyers only in terms of a shorter lead time compared to Ezz,” a source told SteelOrbis.
VAT in Algeria is 19 percent, in Egypt – 14 percent.
$1 = DZD 132.5
$1 = EGP 52.6
