Prices for imported slabs in the Asian region have increased further and activity is better than two weeks ago, though buyers have been focusing on purchases of cheaper origins like Russia or Iran, while ex-Far East slabs have been expensive.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Southeast Asia has moved up to $575-620/mt CFR, with the lower end up by $10/mt, while the higher end has risen by $20/mt, as compared to two weeks ago.
According to market sources, 40,000 mt of ex-Russia slabs have been traded to Thailand at $575/mt CFR lately, and, though this has not been finally confirmed by the time of publication, market sources believe that this level was workable in Southeast Asia. The previous deal from another Russian supplier was at $565/mt CFR. Also, there has been information in the market that one of the Russian producers has already sold to another Asian country at $580-585/mt CFR.
In addition, the leading Iranian mill has managed to sell up to 70,000 mt of slabs to a trader at $530/mt FOB, according to market sources. These volumes are expected to be finally sold in the Far East region. A few offers for ex-Iran slabs have been reported by importers in Southeast Asia at $580-600/mt CFR.
All other slab suppliers in the region have been asking for far above $600/mt CFR. For instance, one of the ASEAN-based mills has increased offers to $660/mt CFR, up by $10-20/mt over the past two weeks. “I believe you can negotiate at $620/mt CFR for Asian slabs, but customers don’t want to,” a source said.
Seeing bullishness among suppliers, it is expected that both Russian and Iranian slabs sellers will insist on prices not below $600/mt CFR in the next round, but demand will depend on the performance of the HRC segment, which has not seen such a positive return after the holiday as had been expected.