Offers for steel slabs in the EU in the second half of April fell to $500/t CIF compared to $520-540/t CIF in the first half of the month, according to Eurometal. Compared to March, prices fell by $80-100/t.
According to traders, the trend will not change in the next 2-3 months due to weak demand from rolling mills and sheet steel producers.
Thus, the March restrictions on imports of finished rolled products to the EU, including flat products, imposed by the European Commission at the end of March, did not lead to a rise in prices on the European market, as expected by its participants.
In addition, the previously reported decline in the cost of coils in the European region has adjusted the supply of slabs.
Japanese slab prices remained unchanged at $470/mt FOB in April. This indicates the stability of the semi-finished steel market in Southeast Asia.
Brazilian slab prices rose to $510/mt FOB at the end of April after three weeks of stability at $490/mt FOB, reflecting the resumption of export shipments to the US.
However, the potential for a rise in the price of Brazilian semi-finished products is limited, as prices for hot-rolled coils in the US have already started to decline amid the end of the market boom that followed the introduction of import duties of 25%.
As previously reported, imports of semi-finished steel products to the US in March amounted to 675 thousand tons, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. In general, in the first quarter of this year, the figure amounted to 2.06 million tons.
