Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices have increased further during the past week supported by the better mood in the major importing markets, the positive outlook in the local Indian market and the sharp drawdown on inventories.
Ex-Indian HRC prices have been pushed up to $790-830/mt FOB, compared to $760-770/mt FOB last week, with the high end of the range valid mostly for Turkish and European HRC importers. Some bookings have been reported at the new price level, but most Indian exporters are confident in a further price increase and are planning further hikes in offers.
Since mid-January, a number of Indian mills have been focused on sales of HRC to Turkey. Last week, Indian HRC exporters made several attempts to increase their offers to Turkish customers, firstly to $850/mt CFR then to $860/mt CFR, while by the end of last week, a deal to Turkey for 25,000 mt ex-India HRC was reported at $870/mt CFR. At the same time, this week new ex-India HRC offers to Turkey have been heard at $890/mt CFR and levels even $10/mt higher have been voiced, given the uptrend in the Turkish domestic market. “Now Indian mills are interested in higher prices as the local quotes in Turkey have been inching up,” a seller said.
Besides, a batch of around 20,000 mt ex-Indian coils is reported to have been sold to Egypt at $850/mt CFR, as estimated last week. “After an Indian mill sold HRC to Egypt, it closed its offers. Now all mills are trying to sell higher,” an Indian source said.
Ex-India HRC prices to the European Union (EU) buyers have been reported at $900-915/mt CFR, up by $20-30/mt from the level seen in the last deal two weeks ago. The sources pointed out that EU customers are still in the market and ex-India HRC offers remain quite competitive considering that mills in the EU have raised domestic quotes. For instance, Italian mills offered their material at €840-860/mt ex-works last week.
A deal to Oman for ex-India HRC has been reported at $840/mt CFR lately.
The latest offers to Vietnam from Indian mills have been voiced at $810-820/mt CFR, which translates to $780-790/mt FOB. However, Vietnamese buyers are not interested in bookings due to the holiday, nor are sellers willing to export to Vietnam due to low prices. “We do not see Indian mills interested in selling at $800/mt FOB now,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
“Prices are expected to gain momentum after the holiday season ends in China as the correction in prices has run its course and mills will continue to maximize realizations from overseas sales,” the sources said.