Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have posted visible declines in the past week, after weeks of increases, and some deals have been heard at lower levels. This has been due to buyers’ resistance in major markets as well as the higher flow of ex-China material at more attractive prices, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Ex-India SAE1006 HRC prices have settled at $1,040-1,200/mt FOB, with the midpoint at $1,120/mt FOB, down by $70/mt compared to last week. Deals to Europe have been done closer to the higher end of the range, while some offers to the Middle East were coming at below $1,100/mt FOB already.
“Demand in markets like the MENA region and the EU is still there, replacing Asia as the main preferred destinations for local sellers over the past several weeks. But the momentum in price increases has been lost in the face of exporters from China becoming more active,” an official at a private mill said.
“Indian mills are expecting to secure higher realizations from exports compared to local sales to offset raw material price increases, and hence all producers are increasing export allocations for the April-June quarter,” the official said.
Small deals for 3,000-4,000 mt each for ex-India HRC have been done to southern Europe at $1,300/mt CFR over the past week, down from as high as $1,350-1,370/mt CFR a week ago. The lowest freight from India to Europe was assessed at $100/mt.
In the UAE, one Indian mill was offering at $1,100-1,150/mt CFR, but customers considered this to be too high.
In Turkey, the indicative price level for ex-India coils is at $1,140-1,150/mt CFR, and the firm offers may start to come later this month at lower levels, market sources believe. Cheaper ex-China prices were pushing bids down in Turkey.
Some sources said that offers from India to some buyers in the MENA region have already been done at below $1,100/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by the time of publication.
