Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have been maintained stable, but offers have not been taken into any consideration in any of the key destinations at a time when sellers from most exporting countries have been aggressively cutting prices amid weak demand scenarios across geographies.
Sources said that local mills have kept ex-India prices for the Middle East unchanged at around $520/mt FOB when trade has been almost at a halt for the holidays. Besides, offers for Europe have been reported in the range of $560-570/mt FOB, versus $570/mt FOB last week, without any interest from buyers.
According to the sources, the acceptable price for sellers has fallen even further during the past week as the ex-China price cut set the trend of aggressive pricing by most other steel exporting countries barring India where sellers had almost exited exports and focused on domestic sales which are still offering better margins.
“Our reports indicate that in Europe imports are working out in a limited way but the acceptable price works out at $550-570/mt CFR for deliveries to the southern part of the region, though Indian sellers have no such pricing leverage to meet such competition,” an affiliate of Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“Exports will continue to have a peripheral role in sales of most local steel companies as the domestic market remains the focus. Despite the fundamental demand weakness seen among local consuming industries, steel players still enjoy significant better pricing leverage in local sales than overseas,” he added.
