Local Indian hot rolled coil (
HRC) prices have declined for the second consecutive week with prices moving down by INR 900/mt week on week to INR 40,000/mt ($624/mt) ex-works as dealers have cut their offers in order to compete with the falling price of imported
HRC, traders said on Monday, May 15.
Market sources said that Chinese
HRC exporters have sharply reduced their offers and this, combined with the appreciating rupee, has sharply reduced the landed price of imported
HRC.
The sources said that the landed price of Chinese
HRC is at least INR 2,000/mt ($31/mt) cheaper than domestic product prices as result of lower Chinese offers and with the Indian rupee remaining strong against the US dollar.
"After a long absence, import competition has resurfaced in the local Indian
HRC market. Higher import volumes are also reported in the market and dealers have had no option but to adjust their local prices to cope with this competition," a Mumbai-based trader said.
"The market expects import competition to increase in tandem with the continued appreciation of the rupee. Even with Indian steel mills maintaining their base prices unchanged, the downward momentum of prices can be expected to increase during the current month, also given he tepid demand situation," the trader added.
$1 = INR 64.15