Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have lost ground for the second consecutive week, moving down by INR 500/mt ($8/mt) during the past week to around INR 33,500/mt ($527/mt) ex-works as stock liquidation in northern and western markets in the country gained momentum, traders said on Monday, April 27.
A Mumbai-based trader said that the price correction in response to dealers clearing their inventories has been triggered by availability of cheap imports and the government's lack of response to demand for antidumping duty on imported flat steel products.
Most market intermediaries are not interested in making fresh bookings for local HRC since many of them are shifting to imports, believing that the government's decision on antidumping duty on imports is unlikely to be taken soon, the trader said.
Market sources said that ex-Japan HRC shipments have reportedly joined shipments of Chinese HRC and this has prompted more and more traders to lower inventories of local HRC and look towards imports.
Japanese HRC offers have declined by $10-15/mt week on week to the range of around $425-430/mt CFR Mumbai, while Chinese HRC offers are substantially lower at around $400/mt CFR Mumbai. Sources have said that significant transactions have been reported for offers from both of these countries for late June deliveries.
$1 = INR 63.51