Posted on 02 Nov 2022
Chinese hot rolled coil suppliers are becoming more active in the Gulf Cooperation Council amid falling prices and sluggish markets. HRC prices have fallen $5-35/tonne on-week, depending on the customer, quantity and shipment time, Kallanish notes.
This week, South Korean material sold for limited quantities of 3,000-4,000 tonnes to fill a vessel at $540-550/t cfr Jebel Ali Port for December shipment. Re-rolling grade (SAE 1006) same-origin material is offered at $560/t cfr GCC for December shipment.
Major Indian mills revealed their 2mm+ thickness boron-added tubemaking grade (SS400 and A36) HRC offers for December deliveries at $585-590/t cfr GCC, seeking a premium for short lead times. Their prices were at $610-620/t until the end of last week when deals were concluded at and below $590/t cfr GCC, which helped Far Eastern mills bag large tonnages of orders.
Ex-China 1.2mm SPHT-1 grade HRC offers are heard at $600-610/t cfr Dammam, and 3mm pipemaking grade (SS400) HRC offers at $560/t cfr Dammam. The region's sole HRC producer announced its offer for January shipment at $700/t delivered within Saudi Arabia for 3mm SPHT-1 grade HRC. This is down $46/t on December-delivery quotes. For service centres in Saudi Arabia and re-rollers in GCC, a discount is anticipated of $60-70/t and $80-90/t respectively.
Beginning next week, the Japanese mill is expected to surface its quotes as its last offer for SAE 1006 grade was at $590/t cfr for December shipment, with a $10-15/t margin to compromise for concluding deals.
Tubemakers and re-rollers in GCC are observing 30-50% lower sales than is typically the case in their respective markets, including export.
"China will define the market price trend,” opines a trader. "Indian mills are back in the market and hungry for orders. Coupled with softening sea freight quotes, the price competition may lead to further price falls. Sea freight prices are almost at the same level as in the pre-Covid period, accelerating the price decline.”
Source:Kallanish
