Brazilian slab export offers to the US remain negotiated in a price range of $450/mt to $460/mt, FOB conditions for the basic commercial grades, the same range over the last two weeks, a local market source told SteelOrbis.
For other slab export destinations, chiefly Europe and Latin America, the price range is also stable, $405/mt to $410/mt, under the same conditions, the source added.
However, the source mentioned that the market is currently undergoing a period of uncertainty, as iron ore prices could increase in the short term and affect the production costs of slab and other steel products.
According to the source, the decision of the local miner Vale to reduce its iron ore production by 10 percent, as a strategy to decommission dams subject to potential collapse, is already impacting iron ore prices in the international markets, although so far it is not possible to know how it will impact the Brazilian domestic market.
Preliminary indications by the local customs authorities point to a stable volume of slab exported in January, compared with the 533,700 mt of slab exported from Brazil in December 2018.
