On February 22, Iranian state-owned steel producer Mobarakeh Steel again raised its sales price of hot rolled coil in line with the rising trends in the local and global markets for flat steel products. On the date in question, at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) Mobarakeh sold about 154,000 mt of 2.5-15 mm hot rolled coils at $570-578/mt ex-works with about 60-day delivery. On the same date, Mobarakeh also sold another batch of about 30,000 mt of 2.5-15 mm hot rolled coil via the IME at the far higher price of $673-704/mt ex-works with 90-day delivery.
The price of the first transaction mentioned above ($570-578/mt) was normal as it was equal to the level of two weeks ago when Mobarakeh last entered the local market; however, the second transaction far exceeded market expectations.The transacted price of $673-704/mt was based on the belief shared by both seller and buyers that a rising trend will be seen in the market in the coming months.
At present, local traders are offering 2-5 mm hot rolled coil at $725-740/mt ex-stock Esfahan, which represents an increase of $70-90/mt compared with early February. Meanwhile, thicker sizes of hot rolled coil, i.e., 6-12 mm, are already being offered in a range of $770-780/mt, up by $100-120/mt compared to three weeks ago.
In the Iranian hot rolled coil market in mid-January 2-5 mm material stood in a price range of $570-640/mt, climbing to $600-660/mt towards the end of January. The rising trend has speeded up in the February, with prices rising from $635-670/mt at the start of the month to $725-740/mt at present.