Posted on 05 Jul 2023
The Gulf Cooperation Council flat steel segment has yet to break its silence in the first few days following the Eid holiday. Hot rolled coil buyers are not in a rush; new deals might be recorded towards the end of the week, Kallanish notes.
"Except for Indian, HRC prices from all origins [Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China] have increased between pre-Eid and post-Eid insignificantly, by $5-10/tonne; however, buyers' buying appetite may force a retreat,” comments a trader. "We expect to see small changes upwards and downward in July."
On 26 June, an enquiry for 10,000 tonnes of multiple grades – SAE 1006 and SAE 1008 – thicknesses and widths – including 930mm – was translated into a deal at an average effective price of $585-590/t cfr Abu Dhabi. This is for end-August shipment. The agreement was concluded by a Chinese trading company sourcing silicon-controlled substrates from Chinese tier-one mills.
This week, another enquiry for 10,000t of re-rolling grade SAE 1006 is expected to be committed.
2mm SAE 1006 grade prime-quality material of Chinese origin was offered at $606-612/t cfr GCC for end-August shipment, Ex-India was at $610/t for August delivery, ex-Taiwan at $615/t for September shipment and ex-Japan at $610/t for September shipment. Chinese mills are pretty active and keen to follow up on enquiries closely, indicating their hunger for sales.
In Saudi Arabia, 3mm SS400 or SPHC grade ex-China material is offered at $590/t cfr Dammam for late-August shipment.
Saudi’s primary mill, the GCC’s sole HRC producer, has announced it will collect enquiries from HRC buyers before issuing its September-rolling HRC price.
Source:Kallanish
