Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have been kept unchanged or have been reduced slightly by some sellers amid the wide bid-offer disparity resulting from the aggressive ex-China competition in the Asian region, while buyers from Europe have been away from the market amid year-end considerations.
Sources said that ex-India HRC prices have been at $510-540/mt FOB this week, only moving down slightly by $5/mt on average. Most bids have been reported at around $480-500/mt FOB, and bids even lower than $475/mt FOB were received late last week, resulting in persisting silent trade conditions. Sources said that, while bids as low as $475/mt FOB were “largely non-serious”, the fact remained that, with large ex-China volumes available in most major Asian markets, workable prices are in the range of $480-490/mt FOB but are still considered too low by large Indian exporting mills. Even though futures prices in China increased on December 10, export prices from China, especially from small mills, have been more attractive for buyers.
Only a slight decline was reported for ex-India HRC in the GCC market. Offers for ex-India HRC in the Middle East, the UAE in particular, have remained at $550/mt CFR for January shipment, or around $520/mt FOB, while most customers report that workable prices should not be higher than 530/mt CFR. As a result of negotiations, some tonnage changed hands at $540/mt CFR, translating to $510/mt FOB.