Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have dropped again this week, but the decrease is still not enough to drive sales, as buyers in the Middle East are reportedly fully stocked, while bids from Europe remain too low for deals to materialize.
More specifically, ex-India HRC offers prices in the Middle East have been cut by around $10-20/mt to the range of $480-500/mt FOB, compared to $500-510/mt FOB last week. However, according to sources, the Gulf market is heard to be sufficiently stocked in the short term and Indian sellers have been unable to find a toehold even for small-volume restocking as buyers were seen to be preferring more competitive ex-China offers of around $490/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, ex-India HRC offers in Europe have been reported at $590-600/mt CFR, which corresponds to around $540-550/mt FOB, following several deals for small quantities signed at $600/mt CFR Antwerp last week.
“There is a lot of volatility in export pricing by most producing countries. In face of this, Indian sellers are dropping prices but are still not price competitive as ex-China and ex-Indonesian offers are much more aggressive. At the same time, Europe is seeing a lot of discounted sales by local mills and distributors are in no hurry to look at imports,” an affiliate of Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Unstable global markets and limits on leveraging prices will continue to prompt Indian mills to focus on domestic sales and reduce marketing exposure overseas,” he added.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India SAE1006 HRC has moved to $480-540/mt FOB, down by $20/mt on the lower end of the range week on week.