Slab of the basic commercial grades remains offered for export from Brazil in a price range of $480/mt to $490/mt, FOB conditions, while prospective buyers remain reluctant to accept deals in that price range, a local exporter told SteelOrbis.
The source added that the country’s holidays during the week have posed additional hurdles for the closure of fresh slab export deals, adding that he believes that with increasing steel prices in the international markets, the slab market will start to see fresh deals next week.
Preliminary indications from the Brazilian customs authorities point to a significant increase of slab exports in October, from the 500,000 mt exported in September, with the possibility of a record monthly slab export volume over recent years.
