Although most Chinese suppliers have been trying to maintain their HRC offers unchanged, several mills have corrected their offers down slightly as trading activity has remained weak, while more deals at cheaper prices have been reported by traders, in Asia in particular. At the same time, the HRC market in Turkey has seen another weakening of sentiments since domestic end-user demand has failed to improve. Local prices for HRC in Europe have remained stable, though interest in imports has revived slightly in the region with several deals reported to have been signed for ex-Asia and ex-Turkey HRC.
Although Chinese HRC mills have continued to maintain their offers at unchanged levels, several producers as well as Chinese traders have decided to go a little lower as decreases in HRC futures prices have been affecting the market mood. Export offers for boron-added SS400 HRC from large Chinese mills have settled at $490-500/mt FOB, with a midpoint at $495/mt FOB, down by $2.5/mt week on week, for end of December-January shipments. Meanwhile, offers from smaller mills have been voiced at $475-485/mt FOB, against $480-485/mt FOB last week.
At the same time, most overseas sales are still reported with additional discounts.
The tradable levels for ex-China SS400/Q235 HRC have been estimated at $475-485/mt FOB, down by $5/mt over the past week. Offers for ex-China Q235 HRC in Vietnam have been estimated at $497-500/mt CFR, down by $3-5/mt week on week, with most bids reported at $490-495/mt CFR levels, though, according to sources, last week a number of deals for ex-China coils were signed at $485-490/mt CFR.
Ex-India HRC prices have been maintained unchanged amid some slight optimism based on the rise in the number of inquiries received by local mills, but this has not been translated into reality and has not been backed by actual trades amid differing perceptions on prices among both buyers and sellers. Besides, overseas sales have been extremely slow in the face of competitive challenges led by supplies from China. Specifically, ex-India HRC prices are unchanged at $520-540/mt FOB, after a slight reduction in the earlier week. Sources said more local mills have reported a rise in inquiries received, particularly from the Middle East, but these bids are below the $500/mt FOB mark, ranging at $480-490/mt FOB, leading to a collapse of preliminary buyer-seller negotiations. Offers for ex-India HRC in the Middle East have been reported at $550-560/mt CFR, against $550-565/mt CFR last week, though no deals have been reported due to tighter competition with Chinese suppliers.
Following a slight recovery in import HRC prices in Vietnam at the beginning of this week amid the recovery of HRC futures prices in China, this week most offers from Chinese HRC suppliers have decreased. Specifically, offers for ex-China Q235 HRC in Vietnam have been estimated at $497-500/mt CFR, down by $3-5/mt week on week, with most bids reported at $490-495/mt CFR levels, though, according to sources, at the end of last week a number of deals for ex-China coils were signed at $485-490/mt CFR. The SteelOrbis reference price for import SAE1006 HRC has moved to $510/mt CFR, versus $510-515/mt CFR last week, given the impact of ex-China HRC offers which are the most competitive. The indicative offers for ex-China SAE1006 HRC have been estimated at $510-515/mt CFR Vietnam, compared to $515-520/mt CFR at the beginning of last week. However, according to sources, most bids from Vietnamese customers have been voiced at as low as $505-510/mt CFR levels.
Trade in the European domestic HRC market has remained slow this week, affected by the ongoing weakness of demand as neither the construction sector nor the automotive sector are showing signs of improvement and, although most mills have kept their official offers stable at high levels and keep targeting more price hikes for the first quarter of 2025, tradable prices do not exceed €570/mt ex-works, both in Italy and northern Europe. At the same time, interest in HRC imports has improved to some extent in Europe, with several deals reported to have been done in Italy, Spain and Germany this week. According to sources, a deal for around 30,000 mt in total of ex-Indonesia HRC has been signed at around €560/mt CFR southern Europe. Besides, another deal for ex-Malaysia HRC has been reported at $585/mt FOB or around €560-570/mt CFR Germany. At the same time, most offers for ex-Asia HRC have been voiced at €560-590/mt CFR, the same as last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to offers for ex-India HRC, while offers from Taiwan and South Korea have been reported at around €580-590/mt CFR. Furthermore, talk about a deal for 20,000 mt of ex-Turkey HRC signed at around $570/mt CFR, or €540/mt CFR duty paid, has been circulating in the market. However, according to sources, official offers from Turkish suppliers are still voiced at €590-600/mt CFR, including duty. Moreover, a deal for ex-Turkey HRC is reported to have been signed at €565/mt CFR, including duty.
In Turkey, HRC prices have slipped once again this week, amid low demand and decreasing import scrap prices. Locally, the mills are still seeking sales for January delivery and their official offers are mainly at $600-605/mt ex-works, but the workable levels are estimated mostly at $580-590/mt ex-works for medium and large lots. No deals have been reported, but some buyers are believed to be currently in negotiations. As regards exports, the price levels iare at $560-580/mt FOB, with $5-10/mt discounts considered possible. In addition, there have been rumors about sales to Europe - one at €520/mt CFR with no duty included and at €565/mt CFR duty paid, both to southern EU destinations. Market players mostly do not exclude that these could in fact have been done, although they admit the prices are quite low especially compared to the domestic market in Turkey. However, there is always the possibility of having an attractive price for coils rolled from cheap ex-Russia slab. In the import segment, China’s offers have softened from $525-528/mt CFR to $515-525/mt CFR with the lower end marking non-VAT offers, according to sources. A sanctioned Russian supplier has been offering at $500/mt CFR for December shipments to Turkey, with no sales reported. However, a week earlier a non-sanctioned producer booked close to 50,000 mt of HRC to Turkey at $530-535/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned.
In the UAE, Emirati buyers' importing activities remain quiet since their stock levels are sufficient and the majority of HRC import offers remain stable, although Chinese futures prices have softened, raising the possiblity of more market declines. As a result, this week's SS400 offers from China have remained unchanged from last week, at $520-530/mt CFR, for January shipment. Meanwhile, several non-VAT traders continue to offer substantially lower prices to the UAE, at $515/mt CFR. Similarly, India's HRC offers have been stable week after week at $550-565/mt CFR to the UAE for January shipment. On the other hand, Japanese and Taiwanese suppliers, despite selling several lots to the UAE last week, have not provided any prices for January shipment, but their previous offers were at around $530-540/mt CFR.