Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) maintained prices but the prolonged spell of inactive market conditions was broken by slight revival of buying interest from Gulf region with gradual increase in prices, although sales in other regions continued to remain a challenge owing to bearish sentiments, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles.
Ex-India HRC prices are in the range of $575-595/mt FOB versus $575-585/mt FOB last week, but sellers were able to conclude only limited deals amidst reports of weakening of demand for boron added material in Southeast Asia and the EU regions.
Trade circles said that an aggregating 30,000 mt of ex-India SAE1006 HRC were sold for delivery to the Gulf at $640-645/mt CFR, which translates to around $590-595/mt FOB, trade sources said that prices indicated slight improvements in realizations compared to trades in earlier weeks at $625-630/mt CFR. Apart from the Gulf, Indian suppliers are facing very poor demand.
“The successful trades in the Gulf over the past week does not give a holistic view of the export market, which continues to remain extremely bearish. Ex-China prices are softening on impact of drought conditions and overall weakening economy and this is spreading negative sentiments across Asia. Indian mills are not able to find workable prices with Asian buyers,” an official with an Odisha based private mill said.
“We find acceptable valuation in the Asian markets not to exceed $600/mt CFR level, but Indian sellers are unable to find that viable. Also demand for alloyed HRC is tapering off,” he said.
Traders have been ready to offer at slightly below $600/mt CFR for ex-India SAE1006 HRC to Vietnam, but most mills have considered these prices as too low so they either do not offer or provide above $600/mt CFR.
