Ex-India hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have been kept unchanged over the past week, while, with buyers in the Gulf taking a pause, even discounted offers have failed to garner any response, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Thursday, October 9.
Sources said that ex-India HDG (Z120) official offers submitted in Gulf markets are stable in the range of $680-700/mt FOB, but some large mills are reported to be continuing to submit offers at $650-670/mt FOB net of discounts.
However, unlike in previous weeks when discounted deals were actively picked up, buyers in the Gulf are reported to be fully stocked, and the overall muted demand has kept fresh bookings at bay. Moreover, according to sources, buyers in the Gulf region have been deferring new ex-India bookings, anticipating that a new price trend will emerge shortly following the end of the long holiday in China.
Expectations in key destinations are that offers for flat products will be significantly lower, with prices expected to fall well below current discounted levels to around $620-630/mt on FOB basis. At the same time, officials were quick to add that, despite such expectations, Indian sellers are highly unlikely to offer such deep discounts as they would be economically unviable and risk negative margins.
