This week, Iranian steel exporters have been highly active in searching for customers abroad, concerned that prices will continue to move down further. In particular, at the beginning of the current week, a few export tenders for ex-Iran steel billet and slab were announced, but customers had to meet prompt deadlines in responding to offers. Furthermore, following the expiration of tender deadlines, a lot of rumors were leaked to the market, ultimately misleading most market players by the end of the given period.
Accordingly, one Iranian steel producer claimed that it has closed its auction for steel billet at $490/mt FOB this week, though market insiders believe that the tradable prices would be at $470-480/mt FOB maximum given the current market developments in the regions to which Iranian exporters mostly supply. Meanwhile, two other ex-Iran steel billet tenders have reportedly closed at $461-465/mt FOB this week, compared to $460-470/mt FOB a week ago. “I consider even the stated prices to be overvalued, given the current market situation,” a market source stated. Specifically, this week in Asia only rare small deals for discounted ex-Japan EAF billet or traders’ positions have been done at $505-515/mt CFR Manila, while in China the workable levels remain below $500/mt CFR. Excluding freight and financing costs at $60-65/mt, it would translate to $445-450/mt at the highest for ex-Iran steel billet.
Apart from that, this week two tenders for ex-Iran slab are reported to have been closed at $440/mt FOB and $465/mt FOB, dropping by $60/mt at least compared to the levels in the previous round of sales in late June. The destinations have not been disclosed by the time of publication.