Before Christmas, steel export transactions slowed down. Transaction prices were weak and stable

First, the international market

This week, the Chinese market has stabilized and rebounded slightly after falling under the support of tight iron ore supply and reasonable demand, and has shown a trend of strong raw materials, weak finished materials, strong plates and weak long materials. In the international market, affected by climate factors, steel mills in the Middle East and CIS have reduced production, inventory levels have declined, and export quotas have been restricted, and semi-finished product export prices have continued to rise, so the price of Iraq and Russia has become more prominent this week. In addition, Vietnam long material prices rose for three consecutive weeks this month, but in the case of a downturn in the real estate industry demand is sluggish, this round of increase is still cost support steel prices. At the same time, the price of Turkey's imported scrap is temporarily stable, currently in the off-season demand, traders are more wait-and-see attitude, long material demand continues to be weak, and export quotations have been reduced. With the arrival of the Christmas holiday, the downstream steel demand will further shrink, and the market as a whole will be in a game pattern of strong expectations and weak reality.

Second, China's exports

Construction steel: This week, as China's domestic trade construction steel prices rebounded slightly from the downturn last week, the export price was basically stable at 570~590 US dollars per ton/ton, and the export order did not improve. According to the feedback from Hong Kong importers, at present, the price of Malaysian resources to Hong Kong is 570~575 US dollars/ton CFR, but the price of Vietnam and Qatar has increased to more than 580 US dollars/ton CFR weight. Singapore importers also feedback that the current Malaysian resources are mainly traded at $565-570 / ton CFR, due to domestic trade demand. Enquiry activity is more positive, there is a certain bullish atmosphere. China's leading steel mill general carbon wire offshore offer in 575-595 US dollars/ton, East China steel mill high carbon wire offer is in 600-610 US dollars/ton FOB, the price is basically no change from last week, export orders are general, February shipping schedule.

Hot coil: This week, China's hot rolled coil prices with domestic trade showed a decline and then stable trend, with the support of raw material prices, China's large steel mills for export offshore offer basically unchanged from last week at 570~580 US dollars/ton fob. Export volumes have been relatively subdued this week, with overseas enquiries also down as the Christmas holiday approaches. Some new transactions show that the mainstream transaction price for Vietnam SS400 and Q195 hot rolls is 575~580 USD/ton CFR, Northern Resources, February shipping date. At present, the offer activities of China's early low-cost hot roll resources to Southeast Asia and the Middle East have decreased significantly, and the transaction price has gradually moved closer to a high level. Mysteel has learned that a small volume order for SAE1006 was placed at a price of $605 per ton CFR Vietnam. The price is still competitive in the Asian market. Due to the relatively high shipping price, the price of shipping from the major ports in northern China to Vietnam reaches 18 to 20 US dollars, so the CIF price increase is relatively large.

Billet: This week, China's billet export prices are still not advantageous, a steel mill in the north of the specification for Q235 billet quoted about $550 / ton FOB, up $10 / ton week on week, only a small number of buyers who do not consider Iranian resources may buy. In terms of imports, Mysteel learned that the price of imported Iranian slab this week is lower than that of square slab, slab price is about 460 US dollars/ton FOB, and square slab price is about 470 US dollars/ton FOB. Currently, the freight from Iran to China is about 40 US dollars/ton. Recently, China has continued to import slabs to Russia, and the overall import volume is expected to be greater than that of Iran, but recently Russian sellers began to quote high prices, quoting $530 / ton CFR for 3sp billets, up $5 / ton week on week, and Southeast Asia quoted about $555 / ton CFR.