Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained largely stable, and, while market sentiments have been slightly upbeat, they have not been translated into actual trading activity. Thus, deals have remained occasional and have mostly been concluded with additional discounts.
Sources said that ex-India offers are unchanged at $485-510/mt FOB and, even though a few sellers attempted submitting offers at the higher end of the range at $510/mt FOB, no trades have been reported at this level with business activity falling in the Middle East owing to Ramadan. According to market insiders, only a deal for 5,000 mt of ex-India SAE1006 HRC is reported to have been signed in the UAE this week at $515/mt CFR for April shipment, which translates to around $480-485/mt FOB.
According to sources, sentiment among Indian sellers has improved slightly following reports that, despite Vietnam imposing antidumping duties on ex-China imports, India has been excluded. Thus, according to sources, a deal for ex-India SAE1006 HRC has been signed at $505/mt CFR Vietnam, or around $480-485/mt FOB, though the initial offer has been reported at $520/mt CFR. “Vietnamese buyers are bidding at $495/mt CFR now,” a trader based in Vietnam told SteelOrbis, adding, “Indian sellers are unlikely to accept such a low level.”
In the meantime, two market participants claimed that an eastern India-based mill has been in negotiation for 15,000 mt of HRC for Genoa port, Italy at $505/mt FOB, but no confirmed information was available as to whether a final deal was concluded or not.
“There is some stability in the market. But at the same time, there are more negatives than positives in the outlook. In Europe, buyers are preferring local supplies despite mills quoting higher. Imports are not on the table for EU distributors because of antidumping investigations and global prices still having downside potential,” a source at Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“The biggest challenge to both buyers and sellers is how the tariff regime will change global trade. Buyers are not willing to take risks. We expect both trade volumes and prices to move in a narrow range in the medium term,” another source said.