In the past week, local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained stable for the third consecutive week at INR 35,000/mt ($527/mt) ex-works, as market participants have been awaiting price directions from local steel mills, traders said on Monday, May 2.
“There are a lot of conflicting reports regarding whether local steel mills will revise May prices and so market participants have preferred to stay on the sidelines awaiting short-term price directions,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“End-users too have sharply reduced fresh bookings as several manufacturing industries across the country have reduced shifts and plant capacity utilizations owing to heat wave conditions in several states in India and this has impacted market activity,” the trader added.
Market sources said that it is still unclear what local steel mills’ pricing strategy will be for the current month.Under these circumstances, dealers are not willing to conclude transactions and a clearer picture of the short-term trend is expected to emerge early next week, the sources added