TEHRAN: Iranian flat steel import market remained sluggish in the week that ended Wednesday, while local prices were more competitive to import. Iran’s national currency, the rial, continued to devalue against the US dollar, which made import prices less attractive compared to domestic ones. On Wednesday, $1 was equivalent to 36,567 rials, while on January 17, $1 was equivalent to 36,461 rials, as per the official rate announced by Oanda.com. In the free market, $1 was traded at 45,450 rials on Jan. 24, against 44,450 rials a week earlier. Iranian customers partially use the free market rate to import material due to the reduced availability of the US dollar at the official rate. Metal Bulletin’s price assessment for imported 2 mm hot-rolled coil in Iran was $560-580 per ton CFR Iranian ports on Jan. 24, compared with $570-580 per ton CFR a week earlier. Offers of Russia-origin HRC (which are offered in euros rather than dollars) kept stable at €470-475 ($577-583) per ton FOB Astrakhan. The estimated cost of freight to the north of Iran is $35 per ton, which would be equivalent to $612-618 per ton CFR. Additionally, Iran has a 9% VAT and 10% import duty on HRC with 2 mm thickness and 15% import duty for thickness of 2.5 mm and above. Concurrently, local HRC was traded at 27,500 rials per ton ex-works, equivalent to $605 per ton ex-works, including 9% VAT. The price of €400 ($490) per ton FOB Astrakhan would be workable for Iranian customers now, sources said. No suppliers would agree to sell at such a price, however, considering they could achieve sales at higher prices to other destinations. The assessment for imported cold-rolled coil in Iran narrowed to $610-630 per ton CFR on January 24, compared with $595-640 per ton CFR last week.
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