The base price for the negotiation of slab exports from Brazil is now in the $400/mt to $410/mt range, FOB conditions, unchanged over the last two weeks, a local exporter told SteelOrbis.
In December, ArcelorMittal exported 193,000 mt of slabs at $345/mt, Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem, inaugurated in 2016, exported 158,100 mt at $310/mt and ThyssenKrupp CSA exported 143,000 mt at $359/mt, all FOB conditions, with price deals probably closed in October.
The main destinations were the US (156,000 mt at $361/mt) and Turkey (147,000 mt at $321/mt), while 97,400 mt at $350/mt were shipped to the EU and 93,800 mt at $312/mt went to Asian countries.
Meanwhile, the local slab producer CSN imported in December 51,000 mt of the product from Iran at $305/mt, FOB conditions.
With the suspension of crude steel production at the Cubatão plant of Usiminas, coupled to a reduction of production at CSN, a domestic slab market was developed in Brazil, with Cubatão and CSN acquiring slabs from Pecem and TKCSA, while importing the product from Russia and Iran.