Russian steel slab exporters have been quite aggressive lately in their slab pricing, aiming to generate some sales. Moreover, the recent price uptick in the hot rolled coil (HRC) market, triggered by China, has failed to improve slab pricing much and international buyers’ price idea for ex-Russia slab has remained low, especially for sanctioned material. In addition, the suppliers who had normally been exporting HRC as well, are currently out of the market, concentrating on domestic sales in Russia and also having limited supply due to maintenance works.
In Turkey, the most recent slab sale at $450/mt CFR for around 20,000-30,000 mt of Evraz slab has been reported by market players and most of them consider the deal was in fact done. The price, however, is evaluated as “too low” since the mill’s previous sale to Turkey was a couple of weeks ago at $480-485/mt CFR levels and the same producer has been rather active in sales to Asia. Others comment it may be an ex-Donbass cargo from Alchevsk SW, which makes sense in terms of price, but such deals carry risks for buyers. “When the mill belonged to Ukraine, it had excellent slab quality but now since it is under Russia and in a gray area it is unknown how they manage production, chemistry and equipment. The price is good, but if you do not get what you wanted, how will you make a claim?” one trader said in a comment on the issue.
Other suppliers from Russia have been aiming to sell at $500-510/mt CFR Turkey, with no luck yet. Alternative origins such as China are available at $560/mt CFR and Indonesia is offering at $560-570/mt CFR, down from $580/mt CFR last week.
The latest offers for slabs from Russia to Europe have been reported at $555-565/mt CFR for July shipments, while ex-Indonesia base grade prices are estimated at around $580-590/mt CFR.
In Asia, Russia’s Evraz, according to sources, has sold two slab cargoes of 50,000 mt each to China at $470/mt CFR, which is around $20/mt below the offers in early June. Bids from China and Taiwan were at low levels of around $450-460/mt CFR in early June, but some rebound in HRC prices and no cheaper options have resulted in deals at $470/mt CFR. Russia is in negotiations to sell additional volumes at the moment. The other regional origins in Asia are available at $530-540/mt CFR, while the indications for ex-Iran cargoes have been evaluated at $490-500/mt CFR.
Ex-ASEAN slab suppliers, being unable to compete with Russia in the Southeast Asian and Chinese import markets, have still been focusing on Europe with the last plate-grade slab offers from Vietnam being reported at $630/mt CFR. Fresh deals are expected soon, seeing European customers have been almost fully depending on ex-Asia sourcing lately, not touching even non-sanctioned Russian slabs due to expectations of new sanctions.