Cautious sentiment and some pricing uncertainty in local Indian HRC market

Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have showed no change across the country in the past week, remaining at INR 41,000/mt ($670/mt) ex-works amid low transaction volumes and cautious buying, traders said on Tuesday, August 12.
 
Uncertainties over pricing by domestic steel mills and restricted imports owing to the weakness of the Indian rupee against the dollar have caused most buyers to be cautious about building up their inventories, two Mumbai-based traders said.
 
Local steel mills have yet to make a decision on increasing their HRC prices, while import transaction volumes in the market have not been significant during the past week, both traders confirmed.
 
At least two steel mills, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), are reported to be maintaining their flat product prices unchanged in August and any increase to offset higher input costs will be decided next month after factoring in low demand, the traders added.