Concern over a potential increase in slab supplies from the CIS and Asia is adding to the gloom in the global slab market, which is already reeling from weakening prices and a lack of demand in the finished flat steel sector.
AsiaBearish sentiment persists in the import markets of Southeast Asia and East Asia, with buyers and sellers all expecting slab prices to remain subdued in the coming weeks.Asian slab importers are likely to drop their bids further due to weak hot-rolled coil markets in the region. In Taiwan, for instance, buyers were looking to secure deals at around $410 per tonne cfr in the first week of January, against offers of $430-445 per tonne cfr.One slab buyer source in South Korea said there was a possibility that Asian slab prices would resume their previous downtrend once trading activity picks up in early to mid-January. Offers this month are likely to fall to $430 per tonne cfr or lower, compared with offers at $450-470 per tonne cfr from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Brazil in the week to December 11, 2018.In Japan, one major slab producer is restarting a blast furnace in western Japan that it shut down...