Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive week at INR 48,250/mt ($747/mt) ex-works, indicating a lack of confidence among market participants, traders said on Tuesday, May 9.
“The market has remained dull for the past one month. There are no key drivers for prices to move up. At the same time, with local steel mills likely to maintain base prices unchanged for current month deliveries, the downside also remains limited,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“But, most importantly, there has been a significant slowdown in stock movement from dealers, indicating that the medium-term outlook for the CRC market remains bearish, even though prices may remain stable, resulting in a steady fall in activity,” the trader added.
At least two traders pointed out that even the government’s announcement of preferential use of domestic steel mills for government-funded projects has failed to offer any support for prices. This is largely because the market expects that such measures will only have an impact in the long term and will have little impact on short- and medium-term price trends, the traders added.
$1 = INR 64.57