Ex-India hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil offer prices have been kept stable over the past week, but a few deals during the week were confirmed at slightly lower levels, negating the hike effected in the previous week, indicating price sensitiveness in key Middle East destinations, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Thursday, January 15.
Specifically, ex-India HDG (grade Z120) offers have remained at $675-710/mt FOB, but deals have been reported in the range of $665-670/mt FOB indicating that sellers are forced to roll back the recent price increase in order to drive sales. In particular, a Gujarat-based mill sold an estimated tonnage of 15,000 mt for delivery to Abu Dhabi at $660-665/mt FOB while another eastern India-based mill reported a trade of 20,000 mt for delivery to Bahrain at $670/mt FOB, the sources said.
“Demand in the Middle East is looking slightly better. More buyers are seeking enquiries and bookings are moderate. But the market is still very price-sensitive and buyers are only concluding deals at lower prices. The price increase effected by Indian mills largely based on domestic market consolidation is clearly not being accepted by overseas buyers,” an official affiliated to Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Exporters will continue to test price increases overseas, but successful deals will be at lower levels till demand and prices consolidate further. Given the export market conditions, Indian mills can be expected to keep export allocations during the last quarter of fiscal 2025-26 at minimal levels and instead focus on local sales,” he added.
In addition, indicative offers for ex-India CRC have remained stable over the past two weeks at around $700/mt FOB, with offers in southern Europe reported to be voiced at around $750/mt CFR.