The Gulf Cooperation Council hot rolled coil market is again being dominated by Far Eastern suppliers, particularly from China and Taiwan, due to the lack of offers from Japanese and Indian majors.

The local Saudi supplier is attracting buyers' interest due to its short lead times and delivered (DDU) price terms, which are close to the cfr prices of non-China mills, notes Kallanish.

Last week, a re-roller booked through a trading company a Far Eastern tier-one mill's multiple grades and thicknesses re-rolling grade HRC base at $615-620/t cfr GCC for mid-October shipment, for slightly more than 20,000 tonnes. The buyer was looking for non-China material since it has to prove for exports to the US that non-China substrate is used.

Another re-roller's enquiry translated into a deal for 5,500t of stock load cargo of 2.3-2.8mm thick SAE 1006 grade at $575/t cfr for October shipment. The remaining quantity of the enquiry was done at $588/t cfr, again from China, for October shipment. The Saudi major quoted at $625/t delivered for October shipment.

All cfr prices indicate Jebel Ali, Dammam or Sohar as destination ports.

This week, a Chinese tier-one mill's silicon controlled 2.8mm thick HRC offers for tube-making grades and re-rolling grades are pegging at $580-590/t cfr for October shipment. The Japanese major's initial offer is at around $600/t cfr for November shipment. All suppliers are ready to compromise $5-15/t against firm bids.

"There is a scramble overall; prices are going up and down. However, the fundamentals do not indicate Chinese HRC will firm up," comments a senior trading company official. "Indian mills are enjoying good demand in their domestic market for HRC at $660-670/t ex-works, equating to $680/t delivered within the country. Why would Indian mills offer to the GCC market where bids are not more than $610/t cfr for non-Chinese HRC for October shipment?"