Indian export offers for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils have remained unchanged during the past week at around $850/mt CFR US despite the lack of any significant buying interest, traders said on Wednesday, September 3.
A Mumbai-based trader said that reports received in India indicate that flat steel product prices in the US market are showing divergent trends and hence buyers prefer to wait for prices to settle before concluding import bookings.
Some US buyers have sought offers $10-15/mt lower than the above mentioned level, but this has been rejected by local exporters since the volumes in question were small and hence few transactions have been concluded during the week, the trader added.
Market sources said that there are too many trade actions pending in the US on various steel product categories and buyers are extremely cautious about concluding transactions from India as they are wary of getting caught by any definitive penal duties which may be imposed even though Indian HDG is not yet on the radar.
No transactions for HDG shipments have been reported from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, with sources saying that business activity in the region is at very low levels.