Import prices for steel slab in Southeast Asia and East Asia tumbled over the past week after producers accepted lower prices amid a bearish sentiment in the downstream flat steel markets, sources said on August 19.
For instance, a flurry of short-selling activity has applied downward pressure to hot-rolled coil prices in Vietnam, with India-origin HRC actively trading due to sluggish demand in its domestic market during the country's monsoon season.Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr Vietnam was $475-479 per tonne cfr on August 19, down $18-20 per tonne from a week earlier. "In the past, Indian mills have sold competitively...