Since suppliers of hot rolled coil (HRC) based in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have been maintaining their bullish stance in their offers, Pakistani buyers have continued to focus their attention on negotiations with suppliers from Russia and Kazakhstan, with some of them already having signed deals. Specifically, SteelOrbis has learned of fresh bookings for a total of 20,000 mt of ex-Russia HRC to Pakistan at $920/mt CFR Pakistan, down $35/mt compared to the previous deal done at $955/mt CFR. A month ago, ex-Russia HRC was traded to Pakistan mainly at $970/mt CFR.
Despite the availability of lower-priced HRC from the CIS, one Pakistani re-roller is said to have been forced to accept a far higher price from a Taiwanese supplier due to the required specification of the material. Accordingly, at the end of the previous week, ex-Taiwan HRC was booked to Pakistan at $1,000-1,010/mt CFR. “Quality of HRC produced by Russia’s MMK is not acceptable for some re-rollers in Pakistan due to the high carbon and manganese content,” an official at a Pakistani re-rolling mill stated.
Meanwhile, the situation in the cold rolled (CR) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil segment in Pakistan has to some extent deteriorated lately, which has made local re-rollers more cautious in their new bookings. Some of them have adopted a wait-and-see stance, preferring to closely watch developments in the global market and expecting prices to move down further.