Given the substantial revival in trade in the domestic HRC market in the GCC, import activity has been strong over the past week. While the majority of GCC consumers favor Indian and Chinese products, with China's holiday beginning importing will likely decrease in the coming days. In addition, sources say that South Korean suppliers have been actively offering to the market, but have failed to attract interest given the other reasonable offers in the import market.
According to reports, although offers for SS400 from China have remained at around $590-600/mt CFR UAE for March shipment, a deal for about 13,000 mt of SS400 from China was announced last week at $620/mt CFR to Oman. Meanwhile, offers for SAE1006 have been reported at $610-620/mt CFR, down from $620/mt CFR the previous week.
India, on the other hand, sold some tonnages to Qatar at $620/mt FOB, which is equivalent to about $645/mt CFR, whereas the majority of the offers this week from Indian suppliers have remained stable at $635-645/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, South Korean suppliers have given stable offers week on week at $670/mt CFR, still targeting higher prices but failing to attract the interest of buyers.