Buying Weakens in Iranian Flat Steel Import Market

EghtesadOnline: Buying activity in the Iranian flat steel import market dropped last week amid limited demand from pipe and profile industries.

News ID: ۷۴۲۰۶۸

12 June 2017

Reduced working hours due to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as well as ample stocks of flat steel have allowed Iranian importers to take a wait-and-see position and seek discounts.

Moreover, availability of thin hot rolled coils from local producer Mobarakeh Steel Company is said to be good now, Metal Bulletin reported.

Hot-Rolled Coil

Russia’s Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, otherwise known as MMK, offered HRC to Iran at €390 ($439) per ton Fob Astrakhan, down by €10 ($11.26) per ton week-on-week, Financial Tribune reported.

The estimated cost of freight from Astrakhan to the Iranian northern port of Anzali is $15-16 per ton. Offers for HRC produced by Severstal were heard at €395 ($445) per ton FOB Astrakhan.

The price decrease, however, was not enough to attract customers, which placed bids at €380 ($428) per ton FOB Astrkhan.

This would be equivalent to $443-444 per ton CFR Anzali.

Offers from Kazakhastan’s ArcelorMittal Temirtau were unchanged at $420 per ton FOB Aktau.

The cost of freight from Aktau to the port of Anzali is around $9 per ton.

No bookings were heard over the past week, despite the price being comparatively attractive to the Russian one.

Metal Bulletin’s weekly assessment for import of 2-mm HRC in Iran dropped to $429-444 per ton CFR Iranian ports on Wednesday June 7, down from $429-461 per ton CFR in the prior week.

Cold-Rolled Coil

Offers for cold-rolled coil from MMK increased to €445 ($501) per ton FOB Astrakhan, up €5 ($ 5.63) per ton over the week.

This was an expected move to increase the price difference between HRC and CRC, sources said.

Severstal-produced CRC was available at €435 ($490) per ton FOB Astrakhan. This would be equivalent to $505-506 per ton CFR Anzali.

CRC offers from ArcelorMittal Temirtau were heard coming at $500 per ton FOB Aktau.

“If there is an order for more than 5,000 tons, the mill is ready to reduce the price to $490 per ton FOB,” a source said.

No new deals were reported last week.

Metal Bulletin’s weekly assessment for CRC imports in Iran widened to $499-509 per ton CFR Iranian ports on June 7, from $499-506 per ton CFR a week earlier.