Steel Prices In December

Hot rolled coil: Orders from Southeast Asian customers this week counteroffer prices are low, the transaction is general, considering that in December some Chinese steel mills will have a certain degree of production reduction, so overall, Chinese steel mills through price reduction to promote exports light. At present, the inventory level of Vietnam’s hot-rolled coil market is relatively high, which is superimposed on imported resources in transit, so the willingness of importers to purchase high-priced hot-rolled coil is low.

Rebar: East China large steel mills British standard B500B export quote at about $570/ton FOB, light trading. On the one hand, the recent trend of moderate appreciation of the RMB has led to an increase in the price of export commodities denominated in US dollars. On the other hand, the high price of iron ore has led to a very limited bargaining space for Chinese steel mills to export finished materials, and there are fewer new export orders for rebar shipped in January and February. Overseas, in the past two weeks, Southeast Asian rebar for the main circulation resources of international trade, Vietnam’s British standard rebar export quote in $550-555/ton FOB Haiphong, Malaysia’s export resources quote in $550/ton FOB, nearly a week of new export orders are mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia, there are also a small number of exports to Hong Kong, China.

Chinese export

This week, the volume export price is temporarily stable, and the current price differentiation of steel mills is large. Some large factories are still quoted at more than $580/ton FOB, and some small factories are quoted at about $550/ton FOB, this week from Southeast Asian customers ordered counteroffer prices are low, the transaction is general, considering that in December some Chinese steel mills or will have a certain degree of production reduction, so overall, Chinese steel mills through price reduction to promote export willingness light. At present, the inventory level of Vietnam’s hot roll market is relatively high, which is superimposed on imported resources in transit, so the willingness of importers to purchase high-priced HR coil is low.

Southeast Asia

Demand in Vietnam remained light this week, with most buyers preferring to maintain low inventories, which averaged 1.5 months. Vietnam Hoa Phat has increased the price of SAE1006/SS400 non-finishing hot coils by VND660/kg for March 2024 shipments.

In terms of import, the Vietnamese importer received feedback from China’s A572Gr50/S355 JR hot-rolled coil quotation of 615 US dollars/ton CFR, a one-month shipment date. Q235 Hot coil mainstream offer reduced to $562-565/ton CFR, buyer inquiries at $559/ton CFR. The market has heard that there are cheap Q235B resources quoted as low as $558/mt CFR, inquiries are at $550-555/mt CFR. The Chinese rerolled grade SAE1006 hot coil offer is $580/ton CFR, but due to the local rerolled grade demand remaining low, the transaction is poor.

India

As about 500,000 tons of imported resources from Vietnam and China will arrive at Indian ports at the beginning of the month, superimposed on local steel mills generally reduce export quotas, focus on domestic sales, local social inventory pressure or will intensify, so Indian buyers this week to wait and see. The spot price of hot rolled coils in India stood at Rs 55,000/ton ($666/ton) EXW on Friday, unchanged on a week-on-week basis. Leading steel mills are expected to announce price changes in December in the coming days.

In terms of exports, despite weak downstream demand, European hot roll domestic trade prices continue to rise, driven by tight domestic supply and replenishment demand. Indian hot roll (S275, 3mm) export quotation maintained at $695-700/ton CFR, has not heard of transactions.

Turkey

In the past week, the demand for hot rolls in Turkey has been suspended, and the price of hot rolls has risen slightly. Production costs, including raw material prices, have increased, which has played a certain role in supporting the price of hot rolls in Turkey. Recently, the price of scrap steel imported from Northern Europe was about $385/ton CFR, which was nearly $10/ton higher than last week’s $376/ton CFR. In Turkey, the supplier’s hot coil offer in January and February is 650-580 USD/ton EXW, and the transaction price is between 650-660 USD/ton EXW. The price of hot rolls in Turkey is between $650–670/ton EXW. Cold roll prices have also risen due to the support of hot roll prices, and the current Turkish cold roll price is $750-780/ton EXW, up about $20/ton week on week.

In terms of exports, the trading atmosphere of Turkey’s hot rolled coils export market this week was cold, and there was no large volume of transactions. Some exporters quoted prices between $640-660/ton FOB, stable from last week. In terms of imports, due to the period of anti-dumping investigation, the volume of new orders for imported hot rolls is depressed, and the import quotation continues to rise, and the volume of new orders for hot rolls imported by Turkey from China, India, Japan, and Russia has decreased. It is reported that the Chinese hot roll price is $600-610/ton CFR, up about 10 US dollars/ton from last week, while the buyer believes that the feasible price is $590-600/ton CFR, and has not heard of large volume transactions. It is expected that during the anti-dumping investigation period, the price of Turkey’s imported hot rolls still has room to rise.