Following some rises in HRC prices from China, slab suppliers have started their attempts to transfer these gains into the slab segment too. So far success has been limited, but, if the uptrend in HRC prices gathers momentum, more deals for imported slabs in Asia may be seen at higher levels, market sources have told SteelOrbis.
The latest deal for ex-Russia slabs to China has been done for a 30,000-40,000 mt lot at $605/mt CFR, up from the previous bookings at $590-600/mt CFR reported last week. But this revival has not been enough for sellers, who have already started to target $630-640/mt CFR in China. This has not been confirmed in new deals so far.
Some market sources said that talks that the US may implement secondary sanctions on countries dealing with Russian products have slowed down the negotiation process. But other market sources said that China just does not want to pay more. As reported earlier, most Russian sellers are selling slabs with payments to Chinese banks in the Chinese currency.
Higher offers for slabs have been seen in other Asian destinations as well. For instance, Taiwanese customers have received offers for ex-Russia slabs at $640-650/mt CFR, while some buyers in Indonesia have been reporting offers even at $710/mt CFR for the same origin.
Ex-India slab offers have increased from $720/mt CFR to Southeast Asia to $740/mt CFR minimum, according to sources. Suppliers from Indonesia have not released new offers so far, but "as we see this rebound, they most probably will ask close to $780-790/mt CFR," a source in Southeast Asia said.
The SteelOrbis reference price for imported slab in Southeast Asia has increased to $640-760/mt CFR, with the midpoint at $700/mt CFR, up by $30/mt over the past week.
