Posted on 03 Sep 2021
The Southeast Asian slab import market remains weak, Kallanish notes, with a recent regional deal for Indian slab showing that prices have come down.
A parcel of 30,000 tonnes of Indian platemaking slab was sold to Indonesia at $680/tonne fob at the beginning of the week, trading sources say. The concluded price heard was $730/t cfr. “No one else is buying,” a regional trader says on why the Indian mill accepted such a low price.
Previously, a leading Indonesian re-roller ordered coil-making slab from Saudi Arabia at $780/t cfr. The re-roller bought the slab because it has an export order to fulfil to the USA, a regional trader says. “It [the order] would have to be 30,000-40,000t to make economic sense,” another trader says. He believes the deal was concluded in late August.
The Indonesian mill, which commenced slab production some months ago, has also offered trial lots to the abovementioned re-roller and another Indonesian user at $750/t cfr. The mill had offered material to Taiwan in early August at $745/t cfr. A Jakarta trader hears that the Indonesian producer is producing slab of limited sizes and specifications. Indonesian traders report that only 1,250mm by 200mm slab is currently being produced.
There are hardly any Russian slab offers in the regional market now, Kallanish understands. Some Indonesian traders say November-shipment offers have not been released, while one estimates that if there were offers, they would be at around $790/t cfr.
Source:Kallanish
