Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) trade activity has slowed down over the past week, after the previous sales at discounted levels, due to competitive challenges in Southeast Asia and logistical and shipping uncertainties, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Tuesday, July 28.
The SteelOrbis reference price for ex-India HRC stands at $480-575/mt FOB, where the higher end has remained stable over the past week, while the lower end has eased by $5/mt mainly because of weakening sentiments in Southeast Asia.
According to at least two in trade circles, an eastern India-based mill has sold 20,000 mt for delivery to Vietnam at $480-483/mt FOB. This is compared to a sale by a different seller in the earlier week concluded at $485/mt FOB. On CFR basis, the sale has been heard at $510-512/mt CFR, but it could not be finally confirmed by the time of publication. “It is in line with what buyers wanted here, but I saw most of the latest offers at $515-518/mt CFR from India and Indonesia and now mills are taking a pause before Hoa Phat releases new prices,” a trading sources stated regarding the situation in Vietnam's import market.
A higher number of enquiries from Europe has been heard in India over the past two weeks, but most of these bids were in the range of $570-580/mt FOB lately, lower than offers at $580-590/mt FOB. No deals were confirmed during the past week after the previous contracts reported at $575/mt FOB.
“In Southeast Asian markets, sentiments are weakening and sellers are having to discount to close sales. Logistical disruptions are preventing buying interest in Europe from being converted into sales. In our assessment, an estimated aggregate 50,000 mt of offers are pending for sales in Europe, depending on shipping solutions being worked out between buyers and sellers,” a mill said.
“Mills are of course targeting a minimum price of $500/mt FOB in Asian destinations, but these will be difficult to achieve and hence sellers will limit export allocations going forward,” he added.
