FOB China HRC
The index kept flat yesterday (10.8.21) at US$928/t, MTD US$928.67/t.
Hebei province will cut steel production by 21.7mn t in 2021 from its 249.8mn t produced in 2020, while Tangshan will cut by 12.37mn t in 2021 and add restrictions for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over 4-20 February. China’s iron and steel association Cisa stressed in a recent meeting that the whole steel industry should stick to policies to cut installed capacity and output to tame irrational raw material price increases.
Major Chinese mills cut or maintained offers at $985-1,020/t fob for SS400 HRC after some stopped quoting last week. A Russian mill was reported to have sold 40,000t SAE1006 grade coils at $905/t cfr Vietnam last week, and Vietnamese buyers lowered bid to $890/t cfr Vietnam this week for coils produced by this mill. Vietnam buyers bid much higher at $915-920/t cfr Vietnam for SAE1006 grade coils produced by large mills from India. (Argus)
EU HRC
The EU hot-rolled coils (HRC) market is waiting for more clarity regarding potential duties on Chinese exports, amid the summer lull period in the bloc.
The Argus daily Italian HRC index slipped by another €1.50/t to €1,041.75/t ex-works, while the northwest EU index remained stable at €1,140.50/t ex-works.
The flats market has come under pressure in recent weeks from a decline in sheet prices, which put purchasing by end-users on hold, as they are expecting lower prices in September. Indeed, the spread between sheets and HRC has been very wide over the past few months, allowing for far larger profits, so market participants said it was a matter of time before margins returned to the usual levels.
One Italian mill was heard to have availability for October, another one for November and a third has supposedly closed November sales already. That said, the producer offers some of the most competitive prices on the domestic market. Large service centres have stocked up with imported material, so are in no rush to purchase, and were putting forward speculative bids to local producers.
Imports on the other hand — some of which are offered on a shorter lead time than Italian mills — are still priced far below local producers. Turkish material was heard available today at $1,000-1,040/t fob, according to market participants. Other offers were scarce, with most buyers away from the market, and as chatter intensifies in China about potential export duties. (Argus)
Turkish Scrap
Limited downside expected near term
Shortsea cargo prices fall further
Turkish Deepsea import ferrous scrap prices inched down Aug. 9, as sellside sources cited lower workable levels, sources said. S&P Global Platts assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap 1/2 (80:20) Aug. 10 at $457.50/mt CFR, down $1.50 on day.
“There has been a little bit of a rebound in interest, and EU scrap buyers are on vacation, but it’s calmer and there are also fewer offers around,” a Baltic recycler said, citing an indicative tradable value for premium HMS 1/2 (80:20) at $455-$460/mt CFR.
“We’ve also heard deals for shortsea cargoes from Libya and Romania at prices as low as $420/mt CFR — so it’s put a bit of a lid on demand and I wouldn’t be surprised if prices come down for a few more weeks,” the Baltic recycler added.
Platts assessed A3 shortsea scrap at $425/mt CFR Turkey Aug. 10, down $6.50 from Aug. 9. Multiple market sources cited workable levels for A3 material ex-Romania, Bulgaria between $420-$430/mt CFR Turkey. A Turkish trading source said $458-$459/mt CFR was possible for premium HMS 1/2 (80:20), but that US sellers may resist at $460/mt CFR. (Platts)
| Indices | Price | Change | MTD |
| Platts TSI HMS 1/2 80:20 CFR Turkey ($/mt) | 457.50 | -1.50 | 484.83 |
| Steel Rebar FOB Turkey ($/mt) | 697.50 | 0.00 | 720.57 |
| Argus HRC NW Europe (€/mt) | 1140.50 | 0.00 | 1165.08 |
| Argus FOB China HRC ($/mt) | 928.00 | 0.00 | 904.62 |
| LME HRC FOB TIANJIN CHINA USD/mt | LME HMS 80:20 CFR TK | |||||||
| Bid | Ask | Value | Bid | Ask | Value | |||
| Aug-21 | 925 | 935 | 930 | Aug-21 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| Sep-21 | 940 | 950 | 945 | Sep-21 | 467 | 477 | 472 | |
| Oct-21 | 937 | 947 | 942 | Oct-21 | 480 | 490 | 485 | |
| Nov-21 | 935 | 945 | 940 | Nov-21 | 475 | 485 | 480 | |
| Q4-21 | 935 | 945 | 940 | Q4-21 | 475 | 485 | 470 | |
| Q1-22 | 915 | 925 | 920 | Q1-22 | 465 | 475 | 470 | |
| LME REBAR FOB TK | BUSHELING | |||||||
| Bid | Ask | Value | Bid | Ask | Value | |||
| Aug-21 | 690 | 700 | 695 | Aug-21 | 641 | 651 | 646 | |
| Sep-21 | 705 | 715 | 710 | Sep-21 | 638 | 648 | 643 | |
| Oct-21 | 705 | 715 | 710 | Oct-21 | 653 | 663 | 658 | |
| Nov-21 | 705 | 715 | 710 | Nov-21 | 665 | 675 | 670 | |
| Q4-21 | 703 | 713 | 708 | Q1-22 | 667 | 677 | 672 | |
| Q1-22 | 675 | 685 | 680 | Q2-22 | 645 | 655 | 650 | |
| US HRC USD/short ton | NWE HRC EUR/metric ton | |||||||
| Bid | Ask | Value | Bid | Ask | Value | |||
| Aug-21 | 1878 | 1888 | 1883 | Aug-21 | 1145 | 1155 | 1150 | |
| Sep-21 | 1873 | 1883 | 1878 | Sep-21 | 1133 | 1143 | 1138 | |
| Oct-21 | 1768 | 1778 | 1773 | Oct-21 | 1113 | 1123 | 1118 | |
| Nov-21 | 1665 | 1675 | 1670 | Nov-21 | 1070 | 1080 | 1075 | |
| Q4-21 | 1684 | 1694 | 1689 | Q4-21 | 1084 | 1094 | 1089 | |
| Q1-22 | 1490 | 1500 | 1495 | Q1-22 | 959 | 969 | 964 | |