Ex-India hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have been largely kept stable amid largely inactive trade conditions barring some very small-volume deals concluded in the Middle East with undisclosed discounts, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Thursday, January 9.
Sources said that ex-India HDG (Z120) prices have been maintained in the range of $710-740/mt FOB, the same as last week.
The sources said that, even though new tariff quotas have been issued for the January-March quarter, buyers in Europe are still largely absent in view of falling prices, economic uncertainties in leading economies like Germany, and ongoing antidumping investigations prompting distributors to be cautious towards imports, particularly ex-India material which is still considered to be high-priced.
However, the sources added that some very moderate buying interest has been reported from the Middle East, but buyers have only been interested in confirming deals at the lowest level of the FOB price range, while details of deals have not been made available by the sellers, citing confidentiality clauses, which market participants attribute to a reluctance to disclose the discounts offered. Trade circles have claimed that the total volume in three deals confirmed during the past week would not exceed 12,000 mt at around $720/mt FOB, but the invoice price is thought to be still lower net of the undisclosed discounts.
“The few deals that we hear recently do not give much cause for optimism because firstly the volumes are still very low and restricted to a limited geography. Secondly, in our view, these are deals deeply discounted by only a few mills liquidating older export allocations for the year-end,” a source at a private mill told SteelOrbis.
“There are a lot of challenges and headwinds in 2025 on the tariff front. Political changes across Europe and the US will drive higher tariffs. Hence, ex-India trade will also continue to face new headwinds,” another source said.