Posted on 19 Jan 2022
Gulf Cooperation Council hot rolled coil import prices are anticipated to hike for February and early-March shipments. This week’s initial price offers are at $760-770/tonne cfr GCC, up $5-10/t on-week, and prices from Indian mills are expected to level at $780-790/t cfr, Kallanish notes.
“Although a Far Eastern mill’s HRC offer is $15-20/t lower [than current Indian quotes], late shipment is the biggest issue. Short lead times shape the conclusion of deals regardless of their quotation,” comments a GCC sector participant.
In United Arab Emirates, an Indian mill was heard last Friday to have concluded a deal for 15,000 tonnes of re-rolling grade SAE 1006 2mm+ HRC at $760/t cfr for February shipment, with delivery in March.
An inquiry from last Friday for 25,000t of re-rolling grade HRC is being competed for by various mills and is expected to result in a deal by mid-week this week at $750-760/t cfr GCC. The Far Eastern mill, which has the lower price tag, can however only offer end-March shipments. The longer lead time poses a risk to the deal being done, says a local trader. GCC’s sole HRC producer in Saudi Arabia is meanwhile only offering April shipments.
The Saudi mill has concluded deals in January for a combined 40,000t for base grade HRC, heard at $715-725/t fob Saudi Arabia destined for Pakistan.
“The re-rollers have large HRC stock and they want to reduce the average price of their inventory; however, late shipments will not help this,” comments a sector participant.
"During the Orthodox Christmas, CIS mills were absent from the HRC market. Subsequently, Indian mills concluded large-tonnage HRC deals destined to Turkey, Vietnam and Egypt, which is the reason Indian mills have elevated HRC prices,” explains a trader.
Source:Kallanish
