Posted on 12 Jun 2024
The hot rolled coil market in the Gulf Cooperation Council is getting slow ahead of the Eid holiday.
Last week, a sizeable enquiry from a re-roller for 25,000 tonnes of various thicknesses and grades (SAE 1006, 1008) resulted in a deal that set a benchmark in the bloc. A Far Eastern major took the order for August shipment at around $573/tonne for SAE 1006 2mm+ thick HRC. Two further enquiries from re-rollers are still open for a combined 20,000-25,000t, notes Kallanish.
This week, a tube maker in the United Arab Emirates for 12,000t and Oman for 15,000t are expected to close deals for July load-readiness. Ex-China tier-one suppliers are offering base (3mm S235JR) at around $565/t for July shipment, 1.2mm SPHT-1 grade from the ESP line at $608/t for August dispatch, and 2.8mm SAE 1006 at close to $575-580/t for August load readiness. 0.35mm+ cold-rolled full hard is heard at around $600-603/t for July loading.
Suppliers may compromise by $2-7/t on quotes. In the meantime, non-VAT HRC offers from China are at $5-10/t lower than the above prices.
All prices are based on cfr Jebel Ali or Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Dammam in Saudi Arabia.
Officials at Chinese mills and trading houses are enthusiastically chasing customers to close deals as their order books are still being filled. Traders have overstocks and expect prices to fall, preferring to postpone bookings until after Eid.
In the UAE, galvanisers are seeing good demand for June and July, but buyers are pushing for price reductions. 1mm Z120 is at around $840-850/t delivered in the country or fob for export markets.
"It is a buyer's market. With the EU reducing quotas for Asian mills, suppliers are looking for alternative markets. Turkey, the fourth-largest export destination for Chinese HRC suppliers, has very little trading activity. More protectionist measures against imported material are being discussed in the country [Turkey]. Competition in the GCC will be more intense after Eid," says a trading source.
Source:Kallanish
