In November, HBI offers moved up to $230-240/mt FOB Venezuelan port after a prolonged period that kept prices below $200/mt FOB. From late December to early January, deals were heard at $225-230/mt FOB.
As raw material prices began to show uncertainty in mid-January, deal prices declined to $210-225/mt FOB. At the end of January, offer prices have moved down to $210-220/mt FOB with deals heard in the range of $200-215/mt FOB in the course of the past week.
According to a source, prices are expected to remain stable for the next several weeks, although a sharp decline in US scrap prices and continued decline in coking coal prices could move prices back to the $180-200/mt FOB range that was prevailing in October 2016.