Indian mills managed to increase export shipments of hot rolled coils (HRC) by 78.85 percent or 2.39 million mt year on year to 5.4 million mt in the 2019 calendar year, which was attributed to the slowdown of demand in the local market, according to India's Minisitry of Commerce. Though Indian suppliers have managed to hike sales to all major sales destinations - Vietnam, the UAE and Italy - the most visible surge was in sales to Vietnam.
Exports of ex-Indian HRC to Vietnam skyrocketed to 2.35 million mt in 2019 against 465,466 mt in 2018. Indian suppliers increased their share in the Vietnamese market mainly owing to their grabbing the share of other exporters, like China, while purchases from local Vietnamese producer Formosa Ha Tinh were not hurt. In the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-20 (January-March) major Indian mills will be focused on domestic sales and will sharply cut their sales to Vietnam. It is expected that HRC consumption in India will stay at higher levels until June before the seasonal slowdown, and so exports of ex-India HRC to Vietnam will decline sharply in the first half of the 2020 calendar year compared to the previous record high, sources said.
The second largest importer of ex-Indian HRC in 2019 was Italy. Sales to this country totalled 782,967 mt, up 58.85 percent or about 290,000 mt compared to 2018. Shipments to this destination are also expected to decline as one of the major flat steel producers - ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, which acquired Essar Steel - will suspend shipments to Europe to prevent competition among the holdings’ companies.
Exports of HRC to the UAE, the third-largest importer for India, added 40.59 percent to 609,676 mt in 2019. Major mills said that they will try to save their market share in the Middle East in 2020.