Indian export offers for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil have remained unchanged at around $795/mt CFR US during the past week, while discounts of $15-20/mt have continued to be observed in the same period, but transaction activity has slackened as buyers have decided to take a pause, traders said on Thursday, February 4.
"Several of our buyers said that US distributors are anticipating a correction in flat product prices considering that demand has not been moving up as expected, and so they have delayed concluding bookings from India," a Mumbai-based trader said.
"Some buyers said that sentiments have also been impacted as some trade cases are up for hearing and decisions are expected in the US later in the month," the trader added.
However, some market sources believe that any flat product price correction in the US market will be limited since US steel mills are determined to keep their prices firm.
Hence, a section of Indian HDG exporters are considering increasing their discounts to $25-30/mt to keep pushing volumes, while the ongoing weakness of the Indian rupee below the INR 68 to the dollar mark will allow exporters to become more aggressive, the sources said.
No significant transactions to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region have been reported in the market during the past week, traders said.