Turkish buyers have seen import slab prices rising sharply this week, mainly due to the plentiful sales concluded over the recent few weeks. As SteelOrbis reported, Asian mills had sold large volumes to Latin America, Europe and Turkey, and the trade was followed by a significant rise in sellers’ price ideas. In addition, the higher slab offers to Turkey are supported by the relatively strong HRC market, as well as by the recent rise in import scrap prices. Still, Turkish mills are looking to buy at a discount and are focused currently on non-Asian offers.
This week, ex-Malaysia slab offers have increased to $590-600/mt CFR Turkey, while the latest sale to Turkey around two weeks ago was concluded at slightly below $550/mt CFR. Indonesia is now offering at $585/mt CFR and, interestingly, some of the sources have reported offers from South Korea, which are rare, at $600/mt CFR. Seeing weak interest in buying at higher levels in Turkey, ASEAN-based mills will look for the next contracts in Europe with a targeted price of $550/mt FOB. “I am not sure if they have sold yet at this price. But probably they will achieve it,” a trader commented.
The prices for Asian slab do not seem to be workable for Turkey at the moment, with around $655-670/mt ex-works for local HRC offers, while the rolling cost from slab to HRC is hardly $60/mt for base material. Instead, according to sources, there has been a booking from Saudi Arabia for around 40,000 mt of slab at $540-545/mt CFR, down $5-10/mt from the initial offer price.
Russian slab prices, which have also risen significantly, could be workable in Turkey, along with the expected additional offers from Saudi. According to sources, the indications for Russian slab from the non-sanctioned mill are at around $520-525/mt CFR, which is logical according to the current market conditions.
However, the latest deals for ex-Russia slabs have been done to the Far East. In particular, two contracts have been reported at $430/mt FOB Black Sea, which translates to $470/mt CFR China or slightly above. Though the price on FOB basis is relatively low, it is connected with still lower level in Asia. In fact, the tradable level for import slabs in Asia has even increased slightly, from $460-525/mt CFR in early November to $470-540/mt CFR. The lower end of the range corresponds to ex-Russia prices, while the higher end is for Asian origin material.