Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have continued to fall below the $500/mt FOB mark as only a few sellers have been heard to be pushing sales overseas without great success amid tight competition with Chinese suppliers.
Sources said that ex-India HRC prices have been reported by at least two eastern India-based integrated mills in the range of $485-495/mt FOB compared to $490-500/mt FOB a week ago. According to sources, a deal for around 15,000 mt of ex-India HRC was signed at $520-525/mt CFR UAE at the end of last week, which translates to around $490/mt FOB.
Market insiders emphasise that, even though ex-China prices have been showing some improvements, buyers are still lacking confidence as regards concluding import trades, expecting some softening in offers, and Indian sellers have still been unable to compete with Chinese suppliers, who have managed to secure numerous deals to the Middle East. “Deal prices for ex-China HRC have been reported in the Gulf region at $490-510/mt CFR, against $520/mt CFR coming from India. We are not seeing many orders even from Indian suppliers who offer their materials for faster shipment/arrival at $510-515/mt CFR, but maybe during the Chinese holiday period we may see some price and business movement,” an Indian trader told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, business activity has remained quiet in Europe even after the new tariff quotas have kicked in for the January-March quarter. “Distributors are not looking at imports unless available at bargain prices, as demand continues to remain weak in most major economies there,” a source at Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Ex-China offers will set the next price trend. But this will only be after the holiday ends in early February and hence the market is not betting much on the slight improvements in ex-China prices now,” another source said.