Indian export offers for hot dip galvanized (HDG) have remained at around $640-650/mt FOB during the past week, while US buyers have been withdrawing as they are unsure of pricing trends in the North American markets, traders said on Thursday, June 30.
“Indian exporters have maintained volume discounts in the range of $15-20/mt but buyers particularly among US steel distributors are unwilling to conclude any fresh deals, resulting in a drop in transaction volumes,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Our reports indicated that US flat steel prices are slipping. Our buyers told us that there is a lot of uncertainty over short-term price movements and so US importers are delaying overseas transactions in general,” the trader added.
At least two traders said that information available with them indicated that US steel imports in June were higher than in May and considering lackluster demand most distributors are carrying more than comfortable inventories and this is taken as a signal for tepid buying interest.
According to one trader, a few exporters of HDG may consider higher volume discounts of $30/mt depending on the trend of the rupee-dollar exchange rate.