Indian HRC prices have continued to move sideways in the past week, with only a slight recovery in trade activity seen in Europe, while business has been completely silent in the Middle East for the Eid holiday. At the same time, ex-India HRC prices have been characterized by a wide range, reflecting variations in demand, competition and trade dynamics across different destination markets.
Sources said that ex-India HRC offers have been submitted for most destinations at $490-510/mt FOB, the same as last week, while offers to Europe have been estimated at $565-570/mt FOB, which translates to around $630/mt CFR. According to sources, Indian suppliers have been seeing a higher buying interest from key destinations like Italy and Germany where a few distributors are more inclined to look at imports in order to restock. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, last week several deals for ex-India HRC were reported at $615-625/mt CFR, while a recent deal has been signed in Italy at $630/mt CFR.
In the meantime, indicative offers have remained stable at around $520/mt CFR in the Middle East, with Indian mills holding back from offering to the region due to the Eid holiday, which has kept trading activity muted.
In the meantime, while trade has been slow in the HRC segment, some large mills have reported a successful revival in trade in cold rolled coil (CRC) after a prolonged break. Sources said that one seller has confirmed a trade for 7,000 mt at $725/mt CFR Rotterdam, while another deal for 10,000 mt was confirmed by a second seller at $730/mt CFR, the sources said.
“European buying even though still sporadic is a positive. But it is still price-sensitive. Aggressive pricing by local mills can be counterproductive at this stage of demand in the EU as there are multiple alternative sourcing options for most buyers,” a representative of a Tata Steel Limited affiliate told SteelOrbis.
“New safeguard rules and new caps in the EU will result in some re-distribution of market shares among global supplies. Some supplying mills like those in India may benefit from this distribution but pricing will get more competitive,” he added.