European HRC buyers have been more active in buying ex-India HRC again lately with at least three deals for around 30,000 mt in total disclosed today, March 26. Prices from India been standing in line with prices from other Asian suppliers in the European market, though the exemption of ex-India HRC from antidumping (AD) duties has contributed to the new purchases.
Specifically, several deals for ex-India HRC have been signed with European buyers at $625-630/mt CFR in Italy and Antwerp for shipments at the end of April and in May, which translates to around €580-584/mt CFR. Besides, another Indian mill has signed another deal with an Italian buyer at $615/mt CFR, which translates to around €570/mt CFR. According to sources, the total volumes of ex-India HRC sales to Europe in this round has reached 30,000 mt, but a few mills and traders have agreed that more deals are likely to be signed in the near term.
Notably, as SteelOrbis reported earlier, the EU’s recently announced AD probe results found no evidence of dumping of HRC imports from India, effectively exempting them from duties. In contrast, provisional tariffs ranging from 6.9 percent to 33 percent will take effect on imports from Egypt, Japan, and Vietnam starting on April 7, 2025. However, according to sources, while Indian imports remain unrestricted, Vietnam, with a moderate 12.1 percent duty, could still present competition in the EU market going forward.
In the meantime, talk about an ex-Turkey HRC deal signed at $635/mt CFR, or around €588/mt CFR including duty, has also been circulating in the market, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
$1 = €0.93