Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have been stable but large mills have been holding back offers and readying to increase them after raising local prices over the past week even as market conditions in key destinations have remained mixed.
More specifically, ex-India HRC prices have remained at $590-620/mt FOB, the same as last week. However, according to sources, mills are looking at ex-India prices in the range of $620-650/mt FOB and it would “not be a big concern” if buyers were scarce considering the very good local prices and tight supplies.
They said that, even though there was a noticeable improvement in buying interest reported from the Gulf region, buyers are still not willing to conclude any deals for significant volumes, with Indian mills citing “prices to be too high” but sellers have been in no mood to enter into discounted sales either. Citing an example of a market report, an eastern India-based mill submitted an offer for 5,000 mt to a Bahrain-based trading firm at $605/mt FOB, but the latter submitted a counter bid at $620/mt CFR leading to collapse in negotiations, SteelOrbis has learned from the market.
“The export market remains weak in most regions, but there are some improvements in ex-China futures prices, though this is not supported by improvements in demand in Asia or the Gulf. Indian sellers will attempt to push up export prices riding on the back of strong local sales,” a source at Jindal Steel and Power Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Our assessment is that Indian mills will only resort to overseas sales to maintain a market presence with long-term customers. But volumes in such deals will be very small. With low export allocation in the current quarter, sellers are unlikely to adjust prices and push sales overseas. The domestic market will remain the focus in the second half of the fiscal year too,” another market insider said.