Indian hot dip galvanized (HDG) exporters have rolled back higher-priced offers from earlier weeks in the face of increased competitive pressures in key markets, while slight improvements in buying have been seen in the Middle East region, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Friday, August 22.
Sources said that ex-India HDG offers are reported in the range of $685-700/mt FOB after sellers rolled back $10-15/mt increases effected in offers around a week ago, but some deals were heard to be done at even lower levels.
According to the sources, the rollback was prompted by the increase in cheaper competitive offers in the Middle East, which has seen slight improvements in buying interest.
The softening in ex-China HDG prices triggered other sellers to fall in line and Indian mills which had been on the sidelines on the export front for a long time strategically reversed previous price increases to support emerging buying, particularly in the Middle East where buyers were inclined to conclude bookings but not at higher price levels, the sources said.
The sources said that an eastern India-based integrated mill concluded a booking of 8,000 mt at around $680/mt FOB for delivery to the UAE.
Another large first tier mill also confirmed a supply contract for 12,000 mt at $685/mt FOB but a large section in the market said that the final invoice price was significantly lower, but that the exact deal price information was not available.
“Indian mills’ export pricing is very similar to what we hear from China where excessively high prices are not holding up. There is comparatively more buying interest in the Middle East and Indian sellers are keen to liquidate export allocations for September. To achieve this, price hikes effected earlier were not sustainable and needed to be rolled back, taking a more real realistic assessment of global trends,” an official at a private mill told SteelOrbis.