In the Indian flat steel market, local mills' offers for their new production have been announced. The anticipated price increases that we mentioned in our previous analyses have finally become a reality and now different mills are giving offers at various levels depending on region, quality and payment terms. Local producer SAIL has increased its hot rolled coil (HRC) offers by INR 1,000/mt to the level of INR 30,500/mt. Other Indian producers' prices are reported to be standing in the range of INR 31,000-32,000/mt depending on payment deferral options. Demand-driven activity has continued to be observed this week and there have been some bookings at the abovementioned levels. However, since inventories are at strong levels, it is still not clear how much acceptance the price increases will find.
There have been offers heard at various levels on the import side, but buying activity is relatively weak. Import offers for hot rolled coils from different mills and traders are given in the range of $590-620/mt FOB. However, as we mentioned, deals have not been heard resulting from these offers. For now, market players are wondering about the direction in which import offers will move, given the increased domestic prices. Some market players think that ex-China offers may increase in line with the global steel markets which are already on an uptrend. On the other hand, a number of market players say that traders who are trying to melt down their inventories and who see India as an alternative market to their increased domestic market may give competitive offers to the Indian market.
Indian exporters have been focused on Europe and the Middle Eastern markets. Indian offers to Europe have shown minor upticks following the increasing prices in Europe after the holiday period. With the strengthened demand, Indian traders are giving competitive offers for hot rolled and galvanized coils and there have been some transactions heard.
Generally speaking, Indian buyers have started to follow a wait-and-see policy against the background of the local mills' increasing offers. Market players are watching to see how Chinese players will act in the coming days and how buyers in India will respond to the Chinese offers. It is certain that the Indian steel markets will gain momentum in the coming days. Considering that prices may increase further, some traders have already increased their buying activities. However, as already mentioned, most traders will wait at least until market prices have become more stable.