Ex-India pellet prices remained range-bound, showing marginal movements either direction but no deals reported in the market with buyers unwilling to confirm deals owing to lack of clarity on market direction and sellers not ready to adjust prices to push deals, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles.
Sources said that ex-India pellet prices move $1-2/mt either direction before settling at $117-118/mt CFR China, almost same level as a week ago.
“Buyers, particularly based in China are lacking confidence. While prices are largely stable, there is uncertainty over fundamentals of finished steel price dynamics,” a member of Pellet Manufacturers’ Association of India (PMAI) said.
“A lot of seaborne cargo has already arrived at port in China. Port stocks have moved up to what we learn to around 7 million mt. Hence buyers are not in a rush to confirm new import contracts and mills are preferring port side stocks,” he said.
At least two producers observed that sellers are also cautious in concluding sales during monsoon rainy season of transportation and logistical dislocations with risks of incurring higher costs like demurrage at stockyards and ports, and also a cause of lull in trading.