Import slab prices have increased rapidly over the past week with deal prices adding $40-45/mt, while latest offers skyrocketing by as much as $100/mt compared to a week before. Such a sharp hike has been caused by the uptrend in the HRC segment and the slab suppliers’ willingness to catch up with the rise in the finished steel segment.
According to sources, the fresh deal for around 40,000 mt of Russian slabs has been signed to Taiwan at $790-795/mt CFR, up from the reference price level of $750/mt CFR over the previous week.
Moreover, “new offers are all over $800/mt CFR as the gap with HRC was big,” one of Asian buyers said. According to sources, new offers from Russia are coming at $850/mt CFR, being around $100/mt higher than in early April.
East and Southeast Asia have remained the major sales destination for slab sales, as bids from China have not improved enough, standing at $740-750/mt CFR maximum, according to a seller source. “Slabs are too expensive for China, I don’t see them [customers] coming back,” a trader said.
Last week import HRC prices in Vietnam reached $920/mt CFR on average, being $75-80/mt higher in weekly comparison. Moreover, sellers are targeting $935-940/mt CFR now.
Export prices for Taiwanese HRC in the export sales have increased to $900-920/mt FOB. “We see the ability to raise [export] HRC prices next week,” a source said. The local market in Taiwan is not as strong as exports and the workable prices are much lower.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import slabs, reflecting the latest deal prices and workable levels, has increased by $40-50/mt over the week to $790-800/mt CFR.