Steel slab prices are likely to continue to fall through the rest of September due to the increasing availability of the semi-finished product from major exporter sources in Brazil and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Currency weaknesses and slow downstream sales will meanwhile help to keep demand muted, Metal Bulletin was told on Tuesday September 11.AsiaSoutheast Asia and East Asia's slab import prices were expected to decline further this month, given the sustained weakness of the Indonesian rupiah and the impending increase in supplies from Brazil and the CIS.More Brazilian slab is expected because suppliers in Brazil are close to filling their import quota for sales into the United States for the current quarter and for the year."Prices will drop for one to two months while Brazilian material is diverted [from the US] to Asia and Europe, until Brazil's US import quota is renewed," an East Asian trader said last week.Domestic demand for finished flat steel appeared to improve marginally in some Asian markets, although slab demand had yet to pick up correspondingly, one East Asian mill source said.A few participants believed that even if...