South American flat steel import prices increased this week after traders were able to sell at higher levels following an easing of the recent downtrend in China.
The rapid descent in Chinese steel prices has slowed in recent days, with buyers in South America starting to accept higher offer prices, one market source said. But market participants said there were no indications of whether Chinese prices will move up or down in the coming weeks. Fastmarkets daily index for hot-rolled coil exports from China reached a bottom of $468.81 per tonne fob on December 6 - its lowest level since July, 2017. However, it was up 1.5% to $475.83 per tonne fob on December 14."I see [some] mills trying desperately to get prices going up, but there are...