Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have been kept largely stable across a wide range in the past week amid near silent trade activity with buyers in the Middle East reported to be fully stocked for now and distributors in Europe still not looking at imports despite local prices seeking higher levels.
More specifically, ex-India HRC offers are reported at $500-520/mt FOB with higher levels quoted to buyers in the Middle East, but no deals have been confirmed by any large seller. Meanwhile, according to sources, only a few deals for small volumes have been reported at $498/mt FOB to Nepal, “going via Haldia port, from China”.
Meanwhile, a few eastern India-based mills are heard to have submitted offers at around $630-635/mt CFR Antwerp, which translates to around $570/mt FOB, the same as last week, but distributors have declined to confirm deals even though EU prices are seen to be inching up but they lacked confidence in the demand outlook to look at imports, the source said.
“Bid-offer gaps are quite wide in most traditional destinations of the EU and the Middle East, with sellers unwilling to bridge them to push sales. Ongoing sales negotiations are active in Europe but success is elusive in the face of the uncertainties of trade flows and risks from the continued weakening of ex-China offers,” an affiliate of Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“There have been a few sales in Africa starting in Egypt and some sellers commencing sales pitches in Nigeria and South Africa as efforts to develop alternate destinations. These are unlikely to mature in the short term and hence are reflected in the conservative export allocations fixed by most large mills for the current quarter,” he added.
