Thai HRC market slow
2023-04-19 08:17:10 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 19 Apr 23 - The HRC market in Thailand performs inactively right after the Songkran Festival, and prices keep temporarily unchanged. Presently, the mainstream prices of HRC SS400 3.0mm*1,500mm hover at THB25,200-25,800/t (USD731-748/t) D/P in warehouse Bangkok. Given the dim market, insiders believe prices of HRC would edge down in the coming several days.
"We did not close any deals so far this week, while could sell 10t a day easily in late March. We tried to contact with several regular clients, but most of them did not resume production as workers are still at hometown for holiday, and they may not restart purchasing before the middle of next week," noted a local trader. Quoting THB25,800/t (USD748/t) for HRC SS400 3.0mm*1,500mm, he could accept THB25,700/t (USD746/t) at most for firm orders, similar to those before the holiday. He shows little confidence in the market prospect seeing the soft demand locally and the decreasing prices in China. "Chinese suppliers quote USD635/t CFR Thailand this week, against USD690/t one month ago," added the trader, deeming prices of HRC would decline in the upcoming several days.
Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader did not supplement inventory recently and just holds 600t of stocks now, down from the regular level of 1,000t. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 400t, he might sell 200t in April, down from 230t in March. The trader sold around 760t in the first quarter of 2023 and 3,700t in 2022.
Another local trader confirms the inactive market. "The market runs quietly. We came back to the market on Monday, but most clients did not return yet. Besides, the downward price trend in China weakened downstream customers' purchasing activities. We just sold 50t of HRC SS400 3.0mm*1,500mm at THB25,600/t (USD743/t) to a regular customer who was in urgent to use on Monday and did not close any deals on Tuesday, while could sell 60t a day before the holiday," revealed the trader. In addition, he pointed out that the coming General Election in May heightened downstream customers' wait-and-see attitudes to some extent. Considering that prices of construction steel dropped by about THB500/t (USD15/t) following the prices decline of raw materials after the holiday, he worries prices of HRC would go down soon.
With the regular monthly sales volume of 2,100t, the trader would sell 1,500t in April, down from 1,800t in March. He roughly sold 5,100t in the first quarter of 2023 and 25,000t or so in 2022, holding approximately 2,000t in stock right now.
"We did not close any deals so far this week, while could sell 10t a day easily in late March. We tried to contact with several regular clients, but most of them did not resume production as workers are still at hometown for holiday, and they may not restart purchasing before the middle of next week," noted a local trader. Quoting THB25,800/t (USD748/t) for HRC SS400 3.0mm*1,500mm, he could accept THB25,700/t (USD746/t) at most for firm orders, similar to those before the holiday. He shows little confidence in the market prospect seeing the soft demand locally and the decreasing prices in China. "Chinese suppliers quote USD635/t CFR Thailand this week, against USD690/t one month ago," added the trader, deeming prices of HRC would decline in the upcoming several days.
Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader did not supplement inventory recently and just holds 600t of stocks now, down from the regular level of 1,000t. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 400t, he might sell 200t in April, down from 230t in March. The trader sold around 760t in the first quarter of 2023 and 3,700t in 2022.
Another local trader confirms the inactive market. "The market runs quietly. We came back to the market on Monday, but most clients did not return yet. Besides, the downward price trend in China weakened downstream customers' purchasing activities. We just sold 50t of HRC SS400 3.0mm*1,500mm at THB25,600/t (USD743/t) to a regular customer who was in urgent to use on Monday and did not close any deals on Tuesday, while could sell 60t a day before the holiday," revealed the trader. In addition, he pointed out that the coming General Election in May heightened downstream customers' wait-and-see attitudes to some extent. Considering that prices of construction steel dropped by about THB500/t (USD15/t) following the prices decline of raw materials after the holiday, he worries prices of HRC would go down soon.
With the regular monthly sales volume of 2,100t, the trader would sell 1,500t in April, down from 1,800t in March. He roughly sold 5,100t in the first quarter of 2023 and 25,000t or so in 2022, holding approximately 2,000t in stock right now.
