Some softening as 2Q approaches

摘要

After strong downward price pressure from Chinese end-users last week, prices for granular product have slipped. China's big Southern end-users reported achieving prices firmly in the low-$100s/t cfr this week, while prices in the River continued to sit in the mid-$100t/s cfr, topping out at $105/t cfr. Even though a drop in price has been achieved, it seems that the buy-side target is for prices to slide lower, and there are buy and sell-side expectations that in the not too distant future, the high-$90s/t cfr will be secured. But, buyers may be hard pressed to find sufficient tonnes at these low levels as while there are offers at around $105/t cfr in the market, they are thinning as some traders in particular step back and wait for this period of softening to come to an end.