Slab prices have continued to go down in Asia due to still bearish sentiment in the HRC segment and higher competition among slab suppliers as exporters from Japan and South Korea have become more active.
The SteelOrbis reference price for import slabs in Asia has lost another $5-10/mt, coming to $410-420/mt CFR. A deal for 40,000 mt of ex-CIS slabs has been signed at $420/mt CFR Indonesia. Moreover, there has been information about a contract at $415/mt CFR for ex-India slabs, but this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Japanese suppliers have been offering slabs at $415/mt CFR to Taiwan and Southeast Asia as lower domestic demand and the difficult situation in the Asian HRC market have pushed them to accelerate exports. A buyer from Taiwan has received an offer at the same level from South Korea.
Offers for slabs, originating from the east of Ukraine, have been at $410/mt CFR Asia.
At the same time, the highest workable price level for slabs is assessed by customers at $410/mt CFR, because bid prices from major buyers have declined again. For instance, bids from Taiwan and China have been heard at $400/mt CFR.
“This week HRC prices [for SAE1006 in Vietnam] have dropped by $10/mt to $460-465/mt CFR. This is the current market price even though many suppliers’ remained offers at $470-475/mt CFR. There are too few buyers,” an Asian source said.
