The prices of Argentinian flat steel products were unchanged for May negotiations, even though production cuts are ongoing.
Platts' 3.0-9.52 mm thick hot-rolled coil assessment was $680-$715/mt delivered Friday while the 0.7-1.73 mm thick cold-rolled assessment was $755-$790/mt delivered. Both exclude taxes.
"In the short run there's no signal of a possible price hike," one distributor in Buenos Aires said.
"Increases are not expected, but mills are cutting down operations," another said.
During April, a few discounts are understood to have been conceded by Siderar. "It is not very common to negotiate discounts with Siderar, as it is the only flat steel producer in Argentina," another distributor said. "But demand is poor and it had to decrease inventory levels."
Expectations for demand in May are better than April though. "The agriculture sector has required a consistent volume of flat steel in the past few months, but demand is expected to increase slightly in May," a third distributor said.
In the medium term, Argentinian players are optimistic about the prospects for Brazil as it deals with political turmoil.
"Brazil is the expected destination for our automotive industry's output, as well as other manufactured goods. If Brazil recovers its appetite for Argentinian exports, our car industry may benefited," one source said.
