The operation of the Asian steel market during the Lunar New Year

In the absence of transactions in the Asian steel market, hot-rolled steel coil prices have remained stable. The import market for hot-rolled steel coils in Southeast Asia is quiet, and there are still sparse offers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

In terms of hot-rolled steel coils, on the 15th, the mainstream offer price from Taiwan to Pakistan was US$760/ton CFR, an increase of US$5/ton from before the holiday. The Japanese and Korean resource quotations were at US$780/ton CFR, the same as before the holiday. During the holiday season, Japanese steel scrap ended its three consecutive months of continuous decline, rebounding about 3000-5000 yen/ton (29-48 USD/ton). Japanese scrap traders said that scrap demand from Asian buyers is expected to become more active after the Chinese New Year holiday.

China has no offer yet. According to the news of Vietnam's import market, the CIF quotations of various countries have not changed. The CIF quotations of Japan and South Korea for Vietnam are 760-770 US dollars / ton CFR. Before the festival, the quotations of large Chinese steel plants remain high, basically at 700-720 US dollars / ton CFR. Some small steel plants maintain their main competitiveness, and the offer prices are 670-690 US dollars / ton CFR for Vietnam.

There are still some transactions in Pakistan's import market. After the sharp jump in the quotation of scrap steel imported from the UK and other European countries last weekend, the demand for finished products has been stimulated, and the supply in the domestic market is tight. It is expected that the price of imported steel plate will rise by US $15 / T week-on-week after the festival.