Prices for imported slabs in Asia have continued to follow a downtrend as customers have been cutting their price ideas, seeing dropping HRC prices. Trading activity has been limited this week, sources have said.
Late last week, offers for ex-Russia slabs to China were reported at $570/mt CFR, down from $590-600/mt CFR earlier. But this week, the offer level from Russia has already fallen to $530/mt CFR, which, however, did not lead to the signing of new deals, at least so far. “The Chinese market is very bad even though futures rebounded [over the last two days],” a trader said. As of June 24, HRC futures prices at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are standing at RMB 4,251/mt ($634.5/mt), down RMB 202/mt ($30.1/mt) or 4.5 percent over the past week even after some improvement in recent days.
Buyers from Taiwan have voiced their price ideas for ex-Russia slabs at $550/mt CFR, down from $600-610/mt CFR reported in the middle of last week, while offers have been at $570/mt CFR. At the same time, Indian customers, who were buying HRC from Russia recently, can bid at $520/mt CFR for Russian slabs.
Iranian steel slab exporters have been forced to follow the same trend likewise in order to secure orders.
In particular, this week Iranian steel mill Khouzestan Steel Company is reported to have closed its tender for 40,000-50,000 mt of steel slab, with delivery at the end of August, at $530/mt FOB, down $50/mt from the levels in the tender closed by another Iranian company at the end of May. Given the accelerated race of the downtrend in the global market, the supplier in question has taken advantage of a good opportunity. Specifically, with estimated freight from Iran to Asia at least $60/mt, the CFR price for ex-Iran steel slabs is estimated to be not below $590/mt CFR.
Asian slab suppliers have not been active this week and their new offers are expected at $650-680/mt CFR in Southeast Asia at the highest, sources have said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Asia (excluding that in China) has settled at $570-680/mt CFR, with the midpoint at $625/mt CFR, down by $45/mt over the past week.