Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have continued to show wide variations depending on destinations, with lower prices applicable for sales to Southeast Asia, while prices are slightly higher for European destinations. At the same time, deal prices have remained relatively stable with only small corrections reported, while general business activity has been rather sluggish this week so far.
Sources said that ex-India HRC offers range at $585-595/mt FOB for Southeast Asia, with the focus of reviving sales to Vietnam, while they have been reported in the range of $610-620/mt FOB for the Middle East. For Europe, offers have ranged at $670-680/mt FOB but are effective for only small-volume deals due to the quota issue. Thus, the price range for ex-India HRC has settled at $585-680/mt FOB, versus $585-670/mt FOB last week.
According to the sources, the trend of revived buying activity from Vietnam seen earlier has been hard to maintain, with sellers being successful only at lower price levels. They said that an eastern India-based mill has reported a trade for 15,000 mt at around $585/mt FOB, the same as last week. In contrast, the sources said that the same mill also concluded a trade for delivery to Qatar at around $620/mt FOB. Besides, another western India-based integrated mill has reported the sale of a tonnage of 15,000 mt for delivery to Egypt at $600/mt FOB, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
“There is optimism among sellers on volumes but not on prices. China will continue to weigh in on overall workable prices after the holiday. Sellers will need to be quick on their feet to push through deals,” a source at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited said.
