Falling HRC prices in Asia, driven by the downtrend in China, have put significant pressure on slab prices in the region. Buyers are waiting for a rapid drop in this segment, though for now most offers have corrected down just gradually.
The latest offers from the major slab sellers, excluding Iran, have been reported at $725-730/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned, down by $10/mt from the previous level reported a week ago. At the same time, bids from some customers in Asia have fallen to $690-700/mt CFR. “But we couldn’t get this price now,” one of the importers said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported SAE1006 HRC in Vietnam dropped by $45-50/mt last week to $845-860/mt CFR Vietnam with new deals already done at this level. “The market is bearish, but slab volume [available at the moment in Asia] is not high,” a trader said.
There have been rumours that a trader in Southeast Asia has been in negotiations for imported slabs at below $690/mt CFR, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
The reference price for imported slabs in Southeast Asia has been lowered to $700-730/mt CFR for now, down by $20/mt from last week, until the lower prices will be proved in deals.
