Over the past two weeks, import slab prices in the Asian region have shown a sharp fall, following the weaker HRC market and as a number of slab sellers have been more aggressive than previously, experiencing slow demand for the past month.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slabs in Southeast Asia has settled at $590-620/mt CFR, down by $22.5/mt over the past week and $30/mt compared to two weeks ago.
The higher end of the range corresponds to ex-ASEAN prices with offers from Indonesia reported at $620-625/mt CFR and some ex-Malaysia slabs have been available at $630-635/mt CFR. But sources said that, in the current weak market conditions, buyers would not consider prices above $600/mt CFR for ex-ASEAN origins. A week ago, the offer level for ex-ASEAN slabs was at $640/mt CFR and above. “ASEAN is weak and mills are seeing the Chinese futures fall with the controls on speculation and on hype in the market. So, both billet and slab prices have dropped,” a trader said.
The lower end of the range corresponds to the highest tradable level for other slab origins like Russia. However, after a number of sales from the major Far East Russian mill at $610-615/mt CFR in Southeast Asia two weeks ago and rumors of sales to Turkey at $630-645/mt CFR, the seller is not very active in offering at the moment.
