Having declined sharply in the earlier days of July, local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained stable during the past week at INR 41,000/mt ($637/mt) ex-works even though market has remained inactive, traders said on Tuesday, July 18.
“The market has stabilized after CRC prices declined by INR 4,500/mt earlier this month. But there is no buying interest even with lower price levels,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Negatives like falling manufacturing growth, high inventories with dealers and the increases seen in local steel mills’ base prices in a down trending market has impacted the sentiment and kept buyers away,” the trader added.
At least two other traders said that several CRC end users in small and medium scale are finding it tough to comply with the new Goods and Services Tax, while a large number of dealers across the country are also not fully compliant to the new tax system.
$1 = INR 64.33