There was an uptick in import prices for steel slab in Asia over the past week after buyers in Southeast Asia returned to the market to book cargoes, while market participants in East Asia were optimistic that downstream flat steel prices had bottomed out.
In Southeast Asia, two shipments of slab produced in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) were booked at $440-455 per tonne cfr during the week to Monday.As a result of the deals, Fastmarkets MB's weekly import price assessment for slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia was $440-455 per tonne cfr on Monday June 24, widening upward by $5 per tonne from a week earlier.Finished flat steel prices in Indonesia's domestic market remained viable for domestic producers to book slab shipments at current prices, a trader in Southeast...