Ex-India hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have been maintained unchanged amid mostly silent trading conditions, although a lot of speculation has been heard over discounted sales in the Middle East, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Friday, November 22.
Sources said that large mills have kept their HDG (Z120) prices unchanged at $700-720/mt FOB and no official trades have been confirmed, with sellers citing the absence of buyers from Europe as year-end considerations have been kicking in, together with weak demand and buyers not yet confident as regards concluding January-February bookings.
However, local Indian trade circles have been rife with speculation that a few large integrated mills had concluded small-volume trades at significant discounts. Although the mills have not confirmed or disclosed details, market sources have said that aggregate volumes sold to the Gulf region, namely, to the UAE and Qatar, over the past week would aggregate 10,000-15,000 mt in total at prices in the range of $675-680/mt FOB, the sources said.
“We generally do not comment on speculative deals that may or may not have taken place. The deal prices that are being talked about are unrealistic. Such deals could be a reality if some producers are under specific compulsions of inventory liquidation. Or they are ‘related party transactions’ wherein both the buyers and sellers are related through associate companies,” a source at a private integrated mill told SteelOrbis.
According to an official at a large Mumbai-based trading firm, “Stray discounted sales in a week are not any significant indication. What is significant is the prolonged absence of buyers from Europe. HDG prices in western Europe are down by one percent in recent weeks. Demand is weak across the euro zone. There is little interest among distributors in restocking as the year-end approaches.”
“However, in the slightly longer term, ThyssenKrupp Steel’s planned revamp of its hot strip continuous casting mill next year could change the supply-side dynamic in the region next year. These are developments that need to be monitored and their impact on imports from India assessed rather than possible speculative trades,” he added.