The situation in the imported slab market in Asia has not changed visibly over the past two weeks as supply volume has been limited, which prevented prices from any visible changes. At the same time, the downtrend in the HRC market and weaker sentiment in China ahead of holidays have been putting pressure on the slab segment.
SteelOrbis reference prices for imported slabs in Asia have remained at $465-470/mt CFR, though a lack of offers has been heard in the market over the past week. Some traders have reported about sellers’ indications at $475-480/mt CFR, but “hard to find volumes,” a source said. The major Russian producer, shipping from the Far East, has been sold out for November production. Brazilian slab exporters have not been active in Asia and have been focused on other markets like the US with offers to Asia surged to above $500/mt CFR, signalling a lack of interest in sales from exporters. No new deals have been reported for slabs from Iran too.
Most sources believe that the slab market will move only after China comes back from the holidays on October 1-8. “It is hard to say what the price level in Asia is now. Probably it will become clearer after Chinese holidays,” a source said.
At the same time, the HRC price decline in Asia, driven by fall in China, has put pressure on market sentiment. Some sources believe that there is still demand for imported slabs at $470/mt CFR, but some end-users are not voicing price ideas at above $460/mt CFR.
Last week, imported HRC prices in Vietnam lost $10-15/mt to $515-520/mt CFR. The latest export offer for ex-Taiwan HRC was at $510-515/mt FOB.
