Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have dropped slightly over the past week amid mounting competitive pressure globally. Sellers achieved only moderate success in concluding small-volume sales to the Middle East, though they managed to sell sizable volumes of HRC to Europe, with more deals expected to be signed with additional discounts.
More specifically, ex-India HRC offers for the Middle East have been reported at $480-490/mt FOB, versus $485-500/mt FOB a week ago, with few small-volume deals confirmed at the lower end of the range. In particular, an eastern India-based mill has reported a deal for 8,000 mt for delivery to the UAE at $475-480/mt FOB, while another large integrated mill has concluded a deal for 15,000 mt with a Bahrain-based trading firm at around $480/mt FOB, the sources said. Furthermore, a contract for`around 20,000 mt has been heard from a large mill for Qatar at a low of $470/mt FOB net of discount, but this deal has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
“There is buying interest in the Middle East, but the market is extremely price-sensitive. Buyers are not entertaining offers unless supported by good discounts. The competition in the region is intense and discounting is the only tool for concluding deals successfully,” an affiliate of Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Indian mills’ HRC export offers to the Southeast Asia and Middle East regions are in a similar range, at around $495-510/mt CFR, depending on thin-gauge material. Mills receive extras for 2.00 mm and below, which pushes prices above the $510/mt CFR level. In addition, shipments are moving quickly - all this material is expected to be shipped by the end of this month,” an Indian trader told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, most offers submitted in Europe have settled at around $500-520/mt FOB, depending on the region, which translates to around $550-570/mt CFR, compared to deal prices at $550-580/mt CFR last week. “Following more than 100,000 mt of HRC sold at $550-580/mt CFR during the past two weeks, we expect new bulk deals with southern European mills at $540-560/mt CFR and at $560-575/mt CFR to northern Europe,” another trader said.
Thus, the SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India SAE1006 HRC has moved to $475-520/mt FOB, down by $10/mt on the lower end of the range week on week.