“Japan's steelmakers to raise HRC export prices to SE Asia”- Reports

It's reported that Japanese steelmakers planned to conclude the price negotiation of hot rolled coil (HRC) for February and March deliveries with Asian buyers.

It's said that Japanese steel producers hiked the HRC export quotes by US$30~US$40/ton to US$680/ton C&F.

In fact, the Japanese blast furnace mills used to complete the HRC quotes easily for March and April deliverers since the HRC export prices used to soar in February and March and the prices of iron ore and coking coal used to surge in April.

However, industry sources predicted that the Japanese steelmakers face difficulty to raise the HRC export prices successfully this year due to uncertainties in raw material prices in this April.

Industry insiders said that market situation may remain uncertain before Chinese New Year vacation.