Ex-India hot rolled coil (CRC) prices have been decreased by large local mills in their offers submitted mainly to the Middle East but have still failed to attract any buying interest, while Europe-based distributors have remained on the sidelines, resulting in prolonged silent market conditions.
More specifically, ex-India HRC prices have settled at $500-525/mt FOB, down by $10/mt on the higher end of the range week on week. Most offers for the Middle East have been estimated at $500-520/mt FOB, but no deals have been confirmed even at the lower levels, and this is largely attributed to challenging ex-China offers, coupled with buyers in the region being cautious about building up inventories, expecting further declines in the coming weeks. “The last business done from India was at around $540 CFR Middle East around three weeks ago, so now $500/mt FOB is very possible. That will be around $525-530/mt CFR UAE,” a market insider told SteelOrbis, adding, “However, one of the mills has refused to sell to Nepal at $520/mt FOB, considering that price to be too low.”
Meanwhile, no formal offers have been heard for ex-India HRC in Europe as most of the customers there have not returned from the winter holidays so far. The latest offers from Indian HRC suppliers to the EU were estimated at around $580-585/mt CFR two weeks ago, which translated to around $530-535/mt FOB.
“There is no definitive direction of current prices. Business is yet to pick up after the holidays in most key destinations. Buyers are deferring deals expecting higher volumes flowing out of Japan and China to depress prices further. Price cuts by Indian mills are not sufficient to drive sales overseas,” a source at a private mill told SteelOrbis.
“Most large integrated mills have not firmed up any export allocations for the last quarter (January-March). We do not think any producer will significantly increase them. After the latest ex-India price cuts, mills can only be expected to maximize local sales,” another source said.