Asian hot-rolled coil prices increased marginally Jan. 25 despite holidays in China and Vietnam, as high raw material cost supported steel prices and higher indications from mills in other regions
Platts assessed SS400 HRC 3 mm thick at $634/mt FOB China and $625/mt CFR Southeast Asia Jan. 25, both up $2/mt from Jan. 20.
Platts assessed SAE1006 HRC at $644/mt FOB China and $641/mt CFR Southeast Asia Jan. 25, both up $2/mt from Jan. 20. Market participants in Vietnam and China were still away on holidays.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most actively traded May contract closed at Yuan 4,201/mt Jan. 20.
Elsewhere, trading activity continued but some were heard to be waiting for China’s return before buying or selling.
“No negotiations this week for Asia region as buyers are away and also waiting for Chinese mill offers, now we are targeting higher for remote areas such as Europe,” a Japanese mill source said. “Local mills in Europe are increasing prices due to low margin so we are following the market trend,” the source added.
A major Indian producer said that they were looking at higher offers to Europe and Middle East for structural grades like S235JR. The source added that they had very limited quantity to export, therefore focusing on regular customers in these two regions.
In terms of market outlook, some sources were waiting for China’s return for a clearer market situation, with most expecting prices to be on the uptrend.
Platts assessed SS400, 12-20 mm thick plate at $640/mt FOB China, unchanged on the week. The same-grade 12-25 mm thick material was assessed at $655/mt CFR South Korea, unchanged over the same period.
“Market is more optimistic now compared to end 2022, but no difference in fundamental demand, prices increase not due to demand but raw material costs,” a Korean mill source said.
“Demand is not good globally and I think it won’t get strong within the next 2-3 months,” the same source added.
