Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained at INR 58,800-59,500/mt ($799-808/mt) ex-works, but trading activity has turned dull with key user industries deferring fresh bookings in view of nervousness over post-festive season sales growth and expecting the government to ease the cost of imports through the lowering of duties, SteelOrbis has learned.
The automobile industry has doubts whether the festive sales growth seen in October-November will be sustained through the rest of the current fiscal year and have become more cautious about restocking raw materials.
Fresh bookings of CRC by the automobile industry have also slowed down as passenger car manufacturers are facing challenges in maintaining output in the face of supply chain disruptions due to a shortage of container availabilities and lower inward shipments of critical imported inputs, traders said.
However, at least two officials at producing steel mills said that, even with possibilities of lower customs duty on imported CRC, downside risks to local prices will be limited in view of integrated steel mills facing a shortage of surplus hot rolled coil (HRC) available to increase production of their captive cold rolling mills.
Despite the fall in trading activity and buyers tending to defer fresh bookings, several market participants and an official at Jindal Steel and Power Limited said that producers are assessing market conditions and could look at increasing base prices by around INR 1,500/mt ($20/mt) next month.
$1 = INR 73.60
