Turkish HRC producers remain interested in slab imports from the CIS in particular, while alternative offers are not considered workable currently.
Last week, 20,000-25,000 mt of September production slabs were traded from Russia at close to $435/mt CFR Iskenderun, SteelOrbis has learned. Another 30,000 mt lot was marketed in the second half of July to the same buyer at a similar price, but by a different Russian supplier.
Currently, ex-CIS steel slab offers are estimated at $415-420/mt FOB, unchanged over the past few weeks. However, according to the sources, a Ukrainian supplier has been targeting as high as $430/mt FOB, while bids from a regular Turkish buyer have been as low as $420/mt CFR Marmara. “Metinvest is targeting EU sales and is not concentrating on Turkey these days,” one trader stated.
Brazil has also been present in the market with offers for September shipments, but its levels of $450-455/mt CFR have not been workable, SteelOrbis has been informed.