SINGAPORE February 05 2016 10:01 AM     

SINGAPORE (Scrap Register): ASEAN  hot rolled cold (HRC) steel import prices (CFR ASEAN port) edged up by $1 a ton  week-on-week to $293 a ton in the week ended January 29, as per the latest  figures released by The Steel Index.

With the approach of the Lunar New  Year, buying interest from the Vietnamese market became muted, keeping TSI’s  ASEAN HRC imports index mostly flat during the week.

While offers for Chinese  origin SAE grade HR coil remained firm, Russian-origin material was priced more  aggressively, with deals heard concluded as low as $270 a ton CFR ASEAN port for  small coils (coil weight approximately 10 tons).

In the market for SS400  grades, the majority of Chinese mills retained their offers in the $280-285 a  ton range on an FOB China basis, but after falling under pressure from weak  domestic demand some steel producers started to drop offer prices to $275 a ton  FOB China.