Posted on 06 Jul 2022
Certain-origin slab offers into Thailand have been heard at under $600/tonne cfr. The other slab import markets in East Asia, with the exception of China, are quiet, Kallanish understands.
Offers for Iranian slab and Russian slab are heard at $585/t and $575/t cfr Thailand respectively. Thai trading sources are uncertain if any deals have occurred.
Apart from China, other regional markets have not been active in recent weeks. A Jakarta trader does not hear of offers to Indonesia. “The market is so bad. And prices dropped a lot,” he says. Another regional trader adds that the market has been quiet. “Most of the ASEAN buyers are trying to stay away from Russian supplies,” he notes.
“Korean customers are still hesitating to buy Russian material since some suppliers were under sanctions,” a Seoul trader says. Buyers are unable to find ways to make payments, he adds. In China, however, there were recent Russian slab deals concluded at around $520/t cfr China (Kallanish passim).
Meanwhile, Thai imports of slab during January-June fell by 38.5% year-on-year to 593,276t, according to Thai customs data. Japan is the leading supplier and its slab volumes dropped by 14.3% to 255,449t. Other top suppliers were Oman (214,956t), Australia (65,179t), Malaysia (42,312t) and India (5,467t). Trading sources believe most billet imports labelled as being from Oman actually originate in Iran
Source:Kallanish
