Major ASEAN region-based slab exporters have returned to the market and as expected have announced higher offers for December-January shipments. They were inactive over the past few weeks, waiting for the Chinese holiday to end to announce new prices.
According to market sources, leading mills from Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia have voiced their offers for slabs at $480-500/mt FOB, having started to announce their offers from last week. The level is much higher than that seen a month ago at $440-450/mt FOB.
According to market sources, the main Vietnamese mill was in negotiations at $475-480/mt FOB last week and its offer is still at nearly $480/mt FOB this week and this has been assessed as the most competitive price from Asia at the moment, according to sources. Malaysian slabs have been offered at $490/mt FOB, but a mill claimed that a deal for a distant market has already been done at $500/mt FOB. This information could not be confirmed by the time of publication and a few buyers in Europe have said that the level is too high. The Indonesian mill has been holding offers at $500/mt FOB for slabs, in line with billet offers, having good order books.
“All exporters have come up with new offers, but there are no deals. Plate prices are under pressure, and mills [in Europe] have high slab stocks, so there is no need to accept high new prices,” an importer from Europe said.
In Turkey, there has also been a lack of interest in slab purchases lately. The tradable level for Asian origin, except Malaysia, which is duty-free, has been assessed at $505-515/mt CFR, according to market sources, which translates to $470/mt FOB at the highest on average, considering increased freight rates. In general, there are still not many offers for Asian slabs in Turkey, though some market sources believe that negotiations for Malaysian slabs may result in new deals shortly.
Some negotiations for slabs from Russia from the non-sanctioned supplier have been held at $490-495/mt CFR in Turkey, according to market information, but official offers may be voiced at higher levels.