Asian hot-rolled coil prices were mixed on July 8 as the market assessed US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs.
Platts assessed SS400 HRC of 3 mm thickness down $1/mt day over day at $446/mt FOB China on July 8. The same grade was assessed up $4/mt over the same period at $447/mt CFR Southeast Asia.
Export offers fell $2/mt day over day to upward of $450/mt FOB Jingtang. Mainstream offers also fell $5/mt week over week to $455-$460/mt FOB Bayuquan. Buying ideas were reported at $440/mt FOB China levels.
Some sources said sentiment was dented by steep tariffs announced by the US on July 7 on some Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. Others, however, said the market had grown immune to the tariff developments in the US, due to the policy flip-flops by Trump in recent months.
“There’s no significant impact on futures, the market is no longer affected by these tariff developments, it seems,” a Singapore-based mill source said.
Deals of mainstream material were reported to Jebel Ali at $463-$466/mt CFR in the week to July 4, but mill sources refuted this, saying these deals were concluded at the beginning of June and not in recent days.
However, a China-based trader said, “Deals at $460-$470/mt CFR are happening in the Middle East, and they are mostly tier one material.”
“Tier 2 mills’ prices are not attractive nowadays. Buyers do not prefer tier 2 cargoes due to quality issues.”
“Most of the cargoes bound to the Middle East are for fabrication and re-exporting to the US and Europe, requiring strict American and EU standards. These standards cannot be produced by tier 2 mills,” the trader added.
The most actively traded October contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 3,191/mt on July 8, unchanged day over day.
Platts assessed the spot price of Q235B 5.75 mm HRC at Yuan 3,250/mt ($453/mt) ex-stock Shanghai on July 8, including valueadded tax, unchanged day over day.
In Southeast Asia, offers for wider-width material rose slightly to $460/mt CFR Vietnam, with deals heard concluded at $457- $459/mt CFR Vietnam.
Regular width offers, meanwhile, are diminishing and mostly ranging at the $450/mt CFR level, sources said.
“But nobody cares for the regular width offers for now. It has become diminutive,” a Vietnam-based trader said, noting the latest antidumping ruling on Chinese imports.
In the SAE1006 segment, Indonesian 3 mm thick coils were reported at $490/mt CFR Vietnam, unchanged from a week earlier. Bids were heard at $10/mt lower, with buyers not following any price increases over the past week.
Chinese offers were heard at $485/mt CFR Vietnam, while Japanese offers were reported at $520/mt CFR, up $5/mt week over week.
Platts assessed SAE1006 HRC down $2/mt day over day to $464/mt FOB China on July 8. The same grade of coil was unchanged over the same period at $491/mt CFR Southeast Asia.
