Local India hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have reversed the previous falling trend over the past week, but market participants have been hesitant to call it a revival of market conditions as the gains were recorded on the back of very thin trading activity owing to the festival holidays in the country.
Sources said that HRC trade prices are up INR 800/mt ($10/mt) to INR 56,800/mt ($682/mt) ex-Mumbai and have gained INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 57,550/mt ($691/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Despite the spate of festival holidays, large import bookings have continued to be reported early in the week. The market estimates about 50,000-60,000 mt of aggregated import bookings have been reported in ex-Asia deals, mainly from China, and the trend is expected to continue to put pressure on the local market.
“In low-volume trade conditions, there are a lot of cheaper alternatives available and this will keep the market under pressure. A truer picture will emerge once business activity resumes later in the week,” a Mumbai-based trader told SteelOrbis.
“Local mills will also signal base price trends after the festivals and rituals. We are not clear how mills will take a call on base prices. There are pressures to raise prices on rising input costs. But higher imports will limit producers from aggressively pushing up prices at the same time,” he added.
$1 = INR 83.30