Buyers stay away in local Indian HRC market

Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained stable during the past week at around INR 37,000/mt ($581/mt) ex-works as buyers preferred to stay away due to year-end considerations and in order to await price adjustments by steel mills, traders said on Tuesday, December 30.
 
"Most buyers have been away from the market during the last few days of the year. I believe they are taking time off and waiting in anticipation for steel mills to adjust their prices taking low demand and high stocks into consideration," a Mumbai-based trader said.
 
"The local HRC market is currently on a thin edge and could move in either direction depending on the pricing strategy of steel mills in the first few months of the New Year," he said.
Sources said that, while the market is waiting for price adjustments, larger steel mills are becoming aggressive in exporting HRC, supported by the weakening of the Indian currency, and may not change their local prices in a hurry in view of healthy export realizations in dollars.
 
With the Indian rupee plunging to a 13-month low of INR 63.68 to a dollar, Indian HRC exporters have been able to cut their offers by $10-15/mt to around $475-480/mt FOB for January shipments, and with Indian mills concluding transactions for significant volumes, they may keep their prices unchanged for the domestic market, the sources said.
 
At the same time, pressures from import competition have been restricted by the falling Indian currency and negligible import transactions have been reported even after offers were cut by $20/mt to around $460-470/mt CFR Mumbai for ex-CIS shipments, the sources added.