Posted on 24 Jul 2024
Pipe manufacturers in the Gulf Cooperation Council note pipemaking grade hot rolled coil offers from China for late-August and September shipment have dropped $7-10/tonne on-week. Re-rolling grade HRC for September shipment from China and October shipments from Japan and Taiwan remains flat on-week, Kallanish understands.
Two weeks ago, a re-roller in the block placed an order for 25,000 tonnes of re-rolling grade HRC from the Japanese major. The order includes some structural grades in the parcel, with an average effective cost of $555/tonne for September shipment. Another order by a re-roller was placed with the Chinese top-tier mill for 10,000t of multiple thicknesses of SAE 1006 grade, with an average effective price of $558/t, for shipment at end-August.
This week, ex-China top and tier-one suppliers are offering 3mm S235JR grade at $543-545/t for September shipment, 1.2mm Spht-1 grade at $587/t for end-August/September shipment, and 2mm SAE 1006 grade at $565-567/t for September shipment. Meanwhile, the Japanese major issued its 2mm SAE 1006 grade price at $570/t, whereas the Taiwanese major is at $580/t, both for October shipment.
All re-rollers are in wait-and-see mode, as sufficient inventories may come to the market next week for their inquiries for October load readiness, targeting at $545-550/t for re-rolling grade 2mm SAE 1006.
This week, a 10,000t parcel was booked from a Chinese top-tier mill, for base (3mm S235JR) at just under $545/t, for mid-September load readiness. A few other enquiries are expected to be sealed by pipemakers in the region. Despite issuing an aggressive price two weeks ago, Japan's JFE was unable to generate much interest, with large buyers preferring their traditional supply channels that had similar offers.
All prices are based on cfr Dammam, Jebel Ali or Abu Dhabi. They are payable by LC on site.
"The current market favours buyers due to various factors such as low domestic demand and oversupply in China, which is impacting export market prices. It is unlikely that this situation will change. Additionally, Japanese domestic demand is not encouraging, and suppliers are eager to finalise deals in export markets, with the Gulf Cooperation Council being identified as a region with better demand compared to other destinations," comments a trading source.
Source:Kallanish
