Prices for imported slab prices have continued to go down in Asia, in line with expectations. Since Chinese customers have still been interested in purchases ahead of the long holiday in early October and suppliers have been trying to push volumes, a number of new deals have been seen recently.
A CIS-based seller has managed to sell 80,000 mt of slabs at $730/mt CFR, down by at least $20/mt from the level seen in the previous round of purchases in China.
Moreover, an Indonesian supplier, which is offering lower quality slabs has also cut prices. Its latest deal to the Chinese importer has been at $710-715/mt CFR, $10-15/mt lower than $725/mt CFR seen in negotiations with the same supplier since late last week. The previous deal for ex-Indonesia slabs was closed at $740-745/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
Suppliers have been targeting slabs sales to China, seeing still reduced demand from Southeast Asia. No new deals have been reported in this destination so far.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Asia has been settled at $725-730/mt CFR, with the higher end of the range down by $20/mt since early this week. At the same time, prices in Asia have lost $27.5/mt on average week on week.