China’s HRC (Grade: S235 and S275) export offers to the Middle East (ME) rose by $10-15/t w-o-w to $575/t CFR UAE against $560-570/t last week. A deal of 12,000 tonnes (t) has been heard concluded at similar price levels.
Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) HRC futures remained stable w-o-w at RMB 3,818/t ($527/t) on 30 April. Moreover, futures remains unchanged d-o-d basis ahead of Labour Day holidays in China from 1-5 May, 2024.
Japanese HRC export offers to the ME rose by $10/t w-o-w to $580-590/t CFR UAE against $570-575/t CFR UAE last week. However, a deal of around 50,000 t has been heard concluded for June shipments at $580-590/t CFR UAE. Furthermore, the export volumes for March 2024 increased by 156,207 t or 8% m-o-m to 2.053 mnt against 1.897 mnt in February.
Last heard price indications from India were at $595/t CFR; no fresh offers have been heard as Indian mills are more focused on the domestic market and have limited HRC export allocations owing to maintenance outages, sources informed BigMint.
In the UAE, domestic steel demand is improving, as the real estate market is growing amid rising interest from both international and local investors.
Outlook: In the UAE, bad weather conditions have been forecast in the coming days, which may affect steel demand. Also, slowdown in the global economy could dampen demand for HRC. However, with growing real estate market in the ME, HRC demand might be influenced significantly.