Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained stable during the past week at INR 43,500/mt ($680/mt) ex-works, as the market has been waiting for price signals from steel mills for September deliveries, traders said on Tuesday, August 29.
“After three consecutive weeks of recording gains, the local CRC market is seen to be taking a pause,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Most market participants prefer to wait on the sidelines waiting for pricing announcement from steel mills for September deliveries, leading to quiet market conditions,” the trader added.
At least two other traders said that, though there are a lot of expectations and talk of steel mills hiking their CRC base prices, most dealers are waiting to get an idea of the size of the increases before making fresh bookings.
Although there has been a significant slowdown in market activity, local CRC prices are expected to remain firm with minimum downside risks, as the steel mills supported by healthy export shipments to Southeast Asian markets are also expected to keep pushing up their domestic prices, the traders added.
$1 = INR 64.01