South America steel import prices in widespread fall for first time in 4 months

Prices for flat-rolled steel imports into South America mostly decreased in the week to Friday May 28 due to a significant absence of Chinese material in the market, with negotiations starting to shift to August shipment, overall lower offers, and a cautious stance among customers.

This was the first time since February 5 this year that the majority of import prices on the continent fell on a weekly basis. They have since all breached the $1,000-per-tonne threshold for the first time since Fastmarkets published most of them, in 2013.
Signs of a trend reversal were already visible in the week ended May 21. While cold-rolled coil and Galvalume coil prices had remained unchanged from May 14, hot-dipped galvanized had dipped for the first time since April 23. Curiously, on May 28, HDG was the only price that increased week-on-week.
"Many customers have decided to wait and see [over the past two weeks]," a source at a non-Chinese mill said. "Many... were reducing order volumes or refraining from placing orders for July shipment."

The main points of concern for buyers and traders were all issues in China, rather than in South America. These were the...

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