China’s steel export prices continued to shrink this week as global demand weakened. In the meantime, Russian suppliers have been trying to tempt global steel buyers with low-priced products, imposing downward pressure on international steel markets, according to Mysteel’s tracking.
As of April 20, the export price of Chinese SS400 4.75mm hot-rolled coil (HRC) assessed by Mysteel, had decreased for the second week by another $8/tonne on week to $853/t FOB from North China’s Tianjin port.
The export price of SPCC 1.0mm cold-rolled coil (CRC), meanwhile, also declined for the second week by $8/t on week to $934/t FOB from Tianjin port, according to Mysteel’s price assessment.
“The steel market has calmed down this month after the frenzied replenishment in March, and the supply gap caused by the absence of Russia-origin supplies has been filled,” a Shanghai-based steel analyst observed.
Meanwhile, Russian mills have been trying to recover their steel export business and have been actively offering prices lower than prevailing market levels to buyers in the Middle East, according to Mysteel’s tracking.
Russian makers were heard offering S235JR HRC to Turkish buyers at $950-1,000/t CFR Turkey this week, “which is slightly lower than for similar products offered by exporters in China and Southeast Asia,” according to a Turkish steel trader.
Despite the lower offers tabled by Russian shippers, “we have to consider the risks of these major mills being sanctioned by the West, (so) future delivery contracts can hardly be guaranteed,” the trader warned.
Moreover, shipping in the Black Sea region is full of uncertainties too, due to the escalating conflict there, according to him. “Unless the profits are much higher, traders are not willing to take such risks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia-origin 3sp billet exports were offered at $730/tonne FOB late last week, which was significantly lower than prevailing offers for China-origin billets at around $780/t FOB.
Shippers from this CIS country were heard having concluded several billet export deals with Turkey recently at $790-800/t CFR Turkey, a price range which shocked the local market where transaction prices were generally between $870-900/t, according to Mysteel’s tracking.
Written by Olivia Zhang, zhangwd@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an exchange agreement between MySteel Global and SteelMint.
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