The Red Sea crisis continues to heat up, and South American plate prices rise overall

On January 12, the United States and Britain jointly launched an attack on the Houthi armed forces in Yemen, which further escalated the conflict in the Red Sea region and continued to put pressure on cargo freight. In addition, China's mainstream export quotations increased month-on-month, driving the overall increase in South American plate import prices this week. Against this background, Brazil's National Steel Corporation (CSN) announced that it will increase the prices of hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils and hot-dip galvanized coils by 5.00-6.25% from mid-January. Considering that China's steel exports to Brazil may decline this year, the company expects its profit margins to begin to recover and local market prices to rise further.

The local price of hot-rolled coil IS2062 (2.5-10mm, excluding VAT) in India is US$665/ton EXW, and the export price is US$630/ton FOB, which is about US$5/ton lower than the beginning of the week. However, the current domestic and export demand are both low. Stable and supply pressure is prominent, so we are not optimistic about subsequent prices. In order to boost market demand and prices, India is expected to expand production activities from February to March. India's export quotation to the Middle East is 635-640 CFR. However, due to the Red Sea crisis, freight rates have increased 4-5 times, and shipping schedules have been extended by nearly a month, so market uncertainty still exists.

Due to the high inventory pressure at this stage, most buyers remain cautious and have low purchasing interest. However, the Chinese Lunar New Year is coming soon. In order to facilitate the completion of large-volume orders, some Chinese manufacturers have expressed their willingness to accept lower inquiry prices.

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