There has been no settled trend in Pakistan’s import HRC market this week as Chinese sellers have increased offers and even signed deals at higher levels as non-VAT business has again been disrupted. But for other origins like Japan and Taiwan, the pressure on prices has been on the rise, with buyers seeing some discounts and they are sure that prices have been too high and have space to go down further.
A deal for Chinese Q195 HRC has been reported at $525/mt CFR Pakistan, up $10/mt from the level seen in a sale two weeks back. At the same time, some volumes of Q235 3-12 mm HRC have been traded at $528-530/mt CFR. This reflects more the situation in China than in Pakistan, market sources believe. “The market in Pakistan will be at $530/mt CFR in the near future as non-VAT [offers] are gone,” a local source said.
Offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been reported at $545-550/mt CFR for August shipment, up by $5/mt over the past fortnight.
But as for other origins, there has been no increase, and, taking into account the latest deals done by Japanese and Taiwanese HRC suppliers to other Asian countries, the pressure on exporters has been rising. In particular, last week a Japanese mill sold SAE1006 HRC to Bangladesh at $578/mt CFR, while the previous deals were done at $580-585/mt CFR to this destination. “This price level should already be gone this week. It is too expensive,” a source from Pakistan said, even despite some discounts. This week, market sources have been expecting $570/mt CFR from Japan, though there has been no confirmation that any deals have been done to Pakistan.
In addition, a contract for ex-Taiwan SAE1006 HRC has been reported to Vietnam at $562/mt CFR, which has been assessed by most market sources as being very competitive. “Indonesia is close to $570/mt CFR, so this price is really good,” a Vietnamese source said. Buyers in Pakistan have not received these low offers yet, but this again proves that Asian suppliers are under pressure to sell.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC in Pakistan has settled at $545-575/mt CFR, stable on average since, while the lower end has increased by $5/mt, the higher end has declined by the same amount.