Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have moved down slightly this week, while the tonnages in deals were on the lower side and participants are still uncertain of any possibility of a demand improvement in the main trade destinations in the short run.
More specifically, the general range for ex-India HRC offer prices has moved to $560-595/mt FOB, against $570-595/mt FOB last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to offers for ex-India HRC in non-traditional markets, like Nepal and Bangladesh, at around $580-585/mt CFR, with the freight rate estimated at $15-20/mt. At the same time, talk about a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-India HRC signed at $572/mt CFR Vietnam has been circulating in the market, though this information has not been officially confirmed by the time of publication. “This deal, if it’s true, should be from Tata Steel, but I doubt it as the price is too high for most Vietnamese buyers given the cheaper options coming from China,” an Indian trader told SteelOrbis. For instance, ex-China SAE1006 HRC offers in Vietnam have been estimated at around $560/mt CFR, with buyers bidding at below $550/mt CFR.
Meanwhile, offers for ex-India HRC in the Middle East have been estimated at $600-610/mt CFR for May shipment, against $600-620/mt CFR last week, with bids from most buyers heard at below $600/mt CFR.
Furthermore, offers for ex-India HRC in Europe have been heard at $640-645/mt CFR, which translates to around $590-595/mt FOB, mainly the same as last week, with no fresh deals reported so far given the safeguard quota issue and tough competition with other Asian suppliers, like especially those from Vietnam and Taiwan.
According to sources, most Indian mills are planning production shutdowns for one to two weeks for annual maintenances, and so it is expected that these stoppages will help the producers to manage the demand-supply balance. “With shutdowns, at least mills will not have to give any new discounts in the local market. As for exports, the situation is still unclear,” an Indian trader told SteelOrbis.
