Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained largely stable over the past week, though some suppliers have managed to secure export sales to destinations such as Vietnam and the Middle East by offering more competitive prices. In Vietnam, Indian HRC has been heard at the most competitive levels among all foreign suppliers. Meanwhile, trade to the Middle East has shown some improvement as alternative shipping routes have become more workable, while Indian sellers have also shown greater flexibility in negotiations amid renewed pressure in the local market.
More specifically, offers for ex-India HRC to the Middle East have been officially kept stable at $550-560/mt FOB, while there has been more optimism among sellers after alternative shipping routes have worked out, though with sellers having to adjust final sales prices to partially offset higher freight rates. According to the sources, two deals aggregating around 30,000 mt for delivery to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets have been confirmed at a price of $540/mt FOB, the sources said.
Besides, another eastern India-based integrated mill confirmed a sales negotiation for delivery of 30,000 mt to Qatar late last week, but no confirmation of a deal has been heard so far.
Furthermore, as reported by SteelOrbis earlier, a deal for 20,000 mt was concluded for delivery to Vietnam at $585/mt CFR and another cargo of a similar tonnage was also sold to Vietnam at $588-590/mt CFR during the past week, which translates to around $565-570/mt FOB. However, most offers for ex-India HRC have been estimated at around $600/mt CFR, or around $580/mt FOB.
Meanwhile, offers submitted in Europe have remained at $620-640/mt FOB, which translates to around $700-720/mt CFR.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India HRC has settled at $540-640/mt FOB, down by $10/mt on the lower end of the range amid discounted sales reported in the Middle East, while other offers and deals have remained stable at high levels.
“A few green shoots are being seen on the export front, amid a combination of India emerging more competitive in a few destinations, and solutions to complex delivery and logistical challenges in the case of Middle East. The weakening of domestic demand and price pressures are also contributory factors for large mills to be a little more aggressive in pricing overseas sales,” an affiliate of Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
