Posted on 06 Sep 2023
In the Gulf Cooperation Council this week, Chinese-origin hot rolled coil quotes have gained $5-10/tonne on-week. Japanese steelmaker JFE’s executives are conducting customer visits in Turkey and plan to arrive in the GCC next week.
In the absence of Indian HRC offers, buyers are resisting Chinese price hikes, knowing that Chinese domestic demand has not improved but that steelmaking raw material prices – coking coal and iron ore – have risen slightly, Kallanish notes.
This week, a tubemaker booked 7,000 tonnes of ex-China 1.8mm+ S235JR grade silicon control HRC at $585/t cfr GCC for late-October shipment. A Chinese major increased its offer for ESP-line 1.2mm SPHT-1 grade HRC to $625/t cfr base grade to $595/t cfr.
Chinese tier-one mills set their 2mm SAE1006 grade prices at $590-600/t cfr for end-October/early-November shipment, while the Japanese are at $580-595/t cfr for November/December shipments. Meanwhile, Taiwanese product is at around $595/t cfr for end-November dispatch.
Quotes are on cfr Sohar, Jebel Ali or Dammam basis.
A Saudi major is soliciting enquiries in order to surface its price for November rolling, giving an impression to its potential buyers of a $10-20/t increase on October deliveries at $700/t base delivered. It has informed its clients that it will undertake maintenance in November; thus, allocations are lower than usual.
One re-roller floated an enquiry for 16,200t of November-delivery multiple thickness SAE1006, 8,050t of SAE1008 and 750t of SAE1018 grades, totalling 25,000t.
"The Japanese supplier selling HRC on and off in the GCC market has set its HRC price at $535-540/t fob, for the East African market," according to an informed source. "Its price in the GCC would be around $580/t cfr GCC ports for November shipment. Buyers who look for non-Chinese substrate may show interest due to its price and delivery time, since the Japanese domestic market maker and consistent supplier to the bloc cannot offer before early-December shipment."
"Chinese HRC offers in the Turkish market inched up to around $590/t cfr Turkish ports but cannot induce any interest. I believe it [Chinese HRC offers] will roll back in a week both in Turkey and the GCC," a senior trading company official comments.
Source:Kallanish
