Although most ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained stable in the majority of the major trade destinations, mainly amid negligible trade activity, with sellers unwilling to push deals and focusing on domestic sales, export offers in Europe have indicated another increase this week. However, most European buyers have remained cautious as regards imports in view of the long delivery lead times and are mostly in favour of restocking locally.
Sources said that ex-India HRC prices have settled at $550-600/mt FOB, versus $550-585/mt FOB last week, with only deals for very small tonnages reported during the past week mainly at the lower end of the range. According to the sources, though it has been very difficult for Indian suppliers to do business given the tough competition with Chinese suppliers, east coast-based Indian mills have been heard to sell some quantities to Nepal and Bangladesh and even to the Vietnamese market at $575-585/mt CFR, depending on the buyer, for late June-early July shipment.
In the meantime, ex-India HRC offers to the Middle East have been estimated at $610-630/mt CFR, or around $575-590/mt FOB levels. However, several buyers in the Middle East have reported offers from one of the Indian producers at $595/mt CFR this week. “Indian mills will get slightly better prices as their delivery is faster, all for June-July arrival to the UAE, while from China it’s for August arrival,” an international trader said.
Furthermore, Indian HRC offers to Europe have increased to $640-650/mt CFR, which translates to around $590-600/mt FOB, up by $5-10/mt week on week. “HRC prices in the EU keep inching up. But the uptrend needs to gain further momentum for users and distributors to start looking at imports more aggressively. As sellers, we shall await such a development and keep focusing on domestic sales in the current quarter,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
“There are no export allocations by large mills nor are sellers giving exports a push. Local sales look more lucrative and domestic prices are getting on an uptrend. The Middle East has been quiet for several weeks. There is some revival of restocking in Europe, but this is mostly from local mills. Shipping delays and resultant costs have been keeping importers away,” a source at a large private mill said.
