Since Chinese suppliers are no longer in the market owing to their long holiday, Emirati customers needing to restock have continued to purchase some quantities from India. Even though there were some purchases recently, no new deals have been reported this week.
“The domestic market is currently slow, with little activity seen,” a major Emirati re-roller commented to SteelOrbis.
Market participants state that local market demand has been declining, which will have an impact on import activities and may cause weakness until China returns to the market.
“Since Chinese mills have been the main suppliers, besides India, the market is very quiet. I believe that the majority of buyers will wait to monitor price movements until after China returns from its holiday,” an exporter told SteelOrbis.
Over the last week, ex-India offers have remained steady at $635-645/mt CFR, with some HRC supplied early last week to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. As a result, at $630-635/mt CFR about 70,000 mt of HRC was sold to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, South Korean suppliers have kept their offers unchanged at roughly $670/mt CFR, while there has been hardly any interest from UAE-based customers.