Export prices for Brazil-origin slab went down for a second consecutive week in the period ended Friday May 17, with buyers in the United States heard to be declining offers on fears that their country's annual quota for semi-finished steel imports will be almost completely taken up by July or early August.
Fastmarkets' weekly assessment of the price for Brazil export slab dropped to $510-520 per tonne fob on May 17, from $520-540 per tonne fob in the previous week.Brazilian producers were allowed to export semi-finished products to the US up to an annual quota of 3.50 million tonnes, without being subject to the 25% tariff imposed after the country's Section 232 investigation.Each quarter, shipments cannot surpass 30% of the annual quota. After...