End-user demand in the UAE HRC market has continued to be unfavorable, while global HRC suppliers have temporarily stabilized their pricing, contrary to the previous weeks. Accordingly, the majority of suppliers are still unsure of the anticipated increase since Chinese prices rose last week but overall business activities have remained modest. Accordingly, most exporters have decided to keep prices stable for the time being in order to gain a clearer picture of the likely market trend.
“We are keeping offers stable due to price fluctuations and the uneven market sentiment,” a South Korean exporter told SteelOrbis.
Besides, Emirati buyers are still hesitating to make purchases, especially as domestic market business activity has continued to go down and is predicted to worsen further due to the approaching holiday.
“Demand is very slow in the UAE because expenditure on new projects is very reduced and the global economic situation is also having an adverse effect on the ability of new projects to move forward,” a UAE trader told SteelOrbis.
According to reports, this week ex-China offers for SS400 HRC for July shipments have remained stable at roughly $590-600/mt CFR UAE.
Even though this week there were some market rumors of ex-India offers at around $615-630/mt CFR UAE for July shipments, these could not be verified by the time of publication. In the meanwhile, the majority of Indian mills have chosen not to offer in spite of the unclear price trend.
Furthermore, South Korea has also kept its offers stable for July-August shipments, at $635/mt CFR.
