After a brief pause, local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have surged again during the past week, rising by a INR 1,500/mt ($22/mt) to INR 36,500/mt ($546/mt) ex-works, amid sharp rise seen in dealers' re-stocking activities and market speculation of local steel mills going in for a second round of price hike later this month, traders said on Monday, September 9.
"Most local steel mills have completed announcing hikes in their flat product prices, ranging around INR 1.000/mt ($15/mt) during the past week. In fact so strong is the buying sentiment that there is a lot of talk in the market that steel mills will go for a second price hike in the current month, triggering higher volume of re-stocking by dealers," a Mumbai-based trader said.
"Several of the large steel mills also report high volume export orders from the markets in Southeast Asia, resulting in further declines in inventories and tight supply is providing further support for HRC prices," the trader added.
Market sources said that local mills are expected to go for a second round of price hike this month and such a hike can be equivalent to the hike just put into effect.
$1 = INR 66.90