Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have been increasing even faster than last week amid some return of interest among buyers and an optimistic outlook on cues of increasing ex-China prices, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Ex-India HRC tradable levels over the past week have surged to $555-575/mt FOB, up by $20/mt. But to a number of trade destinations Indian mills have already announced offers at $590-600/mt FOB, expecting buyers to resume purchases at higher prices at some time, having no other options.
The latest deal for ex-India SAE1006 HRC to Vietnam was reported at $575-580/mt CFR late last week, which translates to $555-560/mt on FOB basis. The deal is for not less than 20,000 mt of HRC. But after that most mills have withdrawal offers, expecting to come back not below $600/mt CFR or $580/mt FOB.
In the UAE, after a number of deals done at $535-545/mt FOB over the past few weeks, a number of large mills have announced offers mainly at $590/mt FOB, which translates to $630/mt CFR. “But the market is not above $600/mt CFR here,” a local source said.
New offers to Turkey have been reported at up to $640-650/mt CFR, being too high for customers as for now.
Before the recent round of price hikes emerged, there were some trades which came to light recently done to the Middle East at $530-540/mt FOB. But most sources agree that all of them were done some time earlier and the realization of good volumes previously has made Indian mills more confident in increasing offers now.
“Local sellers are confident of pushing up prices significantly before the New Year, and targeting close to $600/mt FOB may not be unrealistic if the increases in ex-China prices are sustained,” an official at a private mill said.
“Deals in the EU which over the past few weeks have been sporadic and of relatively small tonnages are also showing some positive signs. We are hopeful that buying under tariff quotas will increase,” he said.
