FOB China HRC
The index fell by $6/t yesterday (18.8.21) to US$919/t, MTD US$927.58/t.
Beijing has pushed a “common prosperity” objective to reduce economic inequality, raising risks of an economic slowdown during the regulatory reset. Policymakers said they can counter that risk with monetary and fiscal support. Beijing also plans to add more than 150mn t/yr of coal capacity to fill a supply gap, which could weigh on coking coal prices and create downside room for steel later this year.
Traders cut offers to $940/t cfr Vietnam for Chinese SS400 HRC, but $900/t fob China could hardly induce any bids. Buyers were still worried about the potential Chinese steel export tax, but market chatter has shifted to a timeframe for next year.
Vietnam mill Hoa Phat cut offers by $20/t to $900-905/t cif Vietnam for October shipment SAE1006 grade coils, $5/t higher than its SS400 HRC offers. Those offers induced no buying given high local stocks built up during extended lockdowns in Vietnam. Two large Vietnamese re-rollers imported around 250,000t HRC at prices above $1,010/t cfr Vietnam previously but the HRC has mostly gone into inventory at mills’ warehouses because of weak demand. (Argus)
Turkish Scrap
Turkish mills seek below $450/mt CFR for Baltic, Benelux material
Lower-priced domestic rebar sales compensate for lack of export demand
Turkish deepsea import ferrous scrap prices moved largely sideways, as a wide price range was heard for the latest reported cargoes, sources said. S&P Global Platts assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap 1/2 (80:20) Aug. 18 at $452/mt CFR, down $1/mt day.
A Benelux-origin cargo totaling 40,000 mt was booked earlier this week by a Samsun mill, with 25,000 mt HMS 1/2 (80:20), 7,500 mt shredded scrap, and 7,500 mt bonus scrap at $451/mt CFR cargo average. The deal was confirmed by the sell side.
A Baltic-origin cargo totaling 30,000 mt was booked Aug. 17 by an Izmir mill, with 13,000 mt HMS 1/2 (80:20) at $457/mt CFR, and 17,000 mt shredded scrap at $473/mt CFR cargo average, confirmed by sell side. Aside from usual regional quality differentials, the high shredded scrap proportion in the Baltic-origin cargo also allowed the seller to command a higher price for HMS 1/2 (80:20), with Turkish buyers heard to be reluctant to further widen the premium for shredded scrap over HMS. (Platts)
EU HRC
European coil markets remained quiet today, with most participants away for summer holidays.
The Argus daily hot-rolled coil (HRC) index fell by €2.75/t to €1,035/t ex-works, while the daily northwest EU HRC index was stable at €1,144/t.
Although activity remains non-existent across the market, because of the holiday period, some indications were heard today at lower levels.
Iron ore prices are decreasing again, and if weakness in Chinese steel prices continues, this is expected to further dampen sentiment in Europe and related markets. Offers from a Turkish mill were heard to Italy at €900/t cif for orders of several thousand tonnes — lower than last week. And there was talk of availability at €880/t cif, although this was disputed. (Argus)
| Indices | Price | Change | MTD |
| Platts TSI HMS 1/2 80:20 CFR Turkey ($/mt) | 452.00 | -1.00 | 458.79 |
| Steel Rebar FOB Turkey ($/mt) | 682.50 | -7.50 | 697.62 |
| Argus HRC NW Europe (€/mt) | 1144.00 | 0.00 | 1146.02 |
| Argus FOB China HRC ($/mt) | 919.00 | -6.00 | 927.58 |
| 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 | 455 | 465 | 460 | |
| Sep-21 | 925 | 935 | 930 | Sep-21 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| Oct-21 | 925 | 935 | 930 | Oct-21 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| Nov-21 | 925 | 935 | 930 | Nov-21 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| Q4-21 | 925 | 935 | 930 | Q4-21 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| Q1-22 | 915 | 925 | 920 | Q1-22 | 460 | 470 | 465 | |
| LME REBAR FOB TK | BUSHELING | |||||||
| Bid | Ask | Value | Bid | Ask | Value | |||
| Aug-21 | 677 | 687 | 682 | Sep-21 | 637 | 647 | 642 | |
| Sep-21 | 695 | 705 | 700 | Oct-21 | 642 | 652 | 647 | |
| Oct-21 | 695 | 705 | 700 | Nov-21 | 640 | 650 | 645 | |
| Nov-21 | 695 | 705 | 700 | Dec-21 | 640 | 650 | 645 | |
| Q4-21 | 695 | 705 | 700 | Q1-22 | 640 | 650 | 645 | |
| Q1-22 | 675 | 685 | 680 | Q2-22 | 648 | 658 | 653 | |
| US HRC USD/short ton | NWE HRC EUR/metric ton | |||||||
| Bid | Ask | Value | Bid | Ask | Value | |||
| Aug-21 | 1882 | 1892 | 1887 | Aug-21 | 1138 | 1148 | 1143 | |
| Sep-21 | 1930 | 1940 | 1935 | Sep-21 | 1119 | 1129 | 1124 | |
| Oct-21 | 1858 | 1868 | 1863 | Oct-21 | 1090 | 1100 | 1095 | |
| Nov-21 | 1773 | 1783 | 1778 | Nov-21 | 1051 | 1061 | 1056 | |
| Q4-21 | 1772 | 1782 | 1777 | Q4-21 | 1063 | 1073 | 1068 | |
| Q1-22 | 1563 | 1573 | 1568 | Q1-22 | 958 | 968 | 963 | |