Demand for flat steel products and, accordingly for slabs, in Southeast Asia has been reduced since last week due to rising Covid-19 cases. At the same time, one Indian seller is still offering slabs at a lower level, while, moreover, supply from Southeast Asia has been higher since the launch of slab production by Dexin Steel in Indonesia last month. As a result, import slab prices have slid in Asia again.
Asian slab importers said that they have been receiving offers from Southeast Asian suppliers at $840-850/mt CFR over the past week, down from $860/mt CFR and above a week earlier. The lower end of the range corresponds to an offer for slabs from the new Indonesia supplier Dexin Steel, a well-known billet supplier with Chinese investments, which started slab production last month. But at the moment, production is limited to only one slab grade and this price cannot be considered as the market level for high quality slabs in Asia, SteelOrbis has learned.
Indian slab suppliers have also remained competitive, offering $850/mt CFR and above, while one source said that a deal to Asia from India was done at $825/mt CFR. This information could not be confirmed by the time of publication and most sources agree that if the deal was actually done it was only for pipe-making and for lower quality slabs.
At the same time, the tradable level for prime grade slabs in Asia is at $865-875/mt CFR in Southeast Asia. This is lower than the previous offers at $880-890/mt CFR about ten days ago.
Slab prices have been under pressure from the weaker HRC and plate markets, and, though the uptrend in China has prevented flat steel prices in Asia from recording further declines, demand has remained subdued. “The Covid-19 situation in Asia is very serious. Consumption [for finished steel] in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam is not good,” an Asian source said. The latest HRC price in Vietnam was at $900-925/mt CFR.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slab in Asia has decreased to $845-875/mt CFR with the midpoint at $860/mt CFR, down by $7.5/mt on average from last week.