The South American flat steel import market remained uneventful during the past week, as participants in Brazil, the largest country in the region, kept away from spot deals, and prices from China, the most active seller, were still significantly higher than those locally.
Fastmarkets' assessment for hot-rolled coil prices in South America was at $565-575 per tonne cfr on March 29, the same level as a week before. Regardless of price stability, this level was still the highest since October 26.Regional cold-rolled coil prices were assessed at $610-620 per tonne cfr, higher than $600-615 per tonne on March 22. The hot-dipped galvanized coil price assessment was $650-680 per tonne cfr, with the lower end of the range dropping from $660-680 per tonne in the previous week.Fastmarkets' heavy plate price assessment for the region was $570-580 per tonne cfr, as the range tightened upwards from $560-580 per tonne a week before, but deal-closing was still scarce, according to sources."It seems client sentiment...