Prices of flat-rolled steel imported into South America climbed further during the week ended Friday April 16 as mills from China, Japan and Brazil raised their offers and buyers were eager to close deals due to uncertainties about Chinese supply going forward, market participants said.
New offers were quickly getting accepted by clients unsure whether availability from China for shipments in June would suffice to fill their needs, sources said.
On top of Chinese offers to the region remaining scarce, there were concerns about output cuts and a potential export tax rebate reduction in the Asian country.
"We [expect] that June-shipment export volume allocation from China [to South America] may be limited due to strong domestic demand and production reductions," a source at a non-Chinese mill said.
Sources were anticipating an announcement regarding the tax rebate on May 1, with some Chinese mills already factoring it in their prices on a fob basis and others not. There was still no official confirmation on the matter, however.
"This definitely...