Ex-India flat steel export offers have showed mixed trends in the past week, but strong buying interest from key markets in Southeast Asia has been sustained for the second consecutive week with a rise in the average contract volumes reported in the market, traders said on Monday, April 29.
“There has been particularly strong buying both in terms of the number of contracts and volumes, especially for ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) and both commercial exporters and large steel mills have been very active in concluding deals, though offers have remained unchanged during the past week,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“The strong performance of the export market has also been supported by steady bookings by buyers in neighboring markets like Nepal and Bangladesh. It is possible that, with the Indian rupee touching the INR 70 to the dollar mark during the past week and poised to weaken further in reaction to rising international crude oil prices, this made local steel exporters more aggressive in concluding contracts,” the trader added.
Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) offers have remained stable during the past week at $550/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that buyers in Vietnam were particularly active during the week in concluding contracts for May delivery.
Market reports indicate that large Indian steel mills have concluded contracts for an aggregate volume of 20,000 mt for delivery to Vietnam, while an aggregate volume of another 10,000 mt has been contracted by the mills for delivery to Malaysian buyers.
In addition, commercial exporters are reported to have concluded an aggregate volume of 10,000 mt for delivery to Vietnam, sources said citing market reports.
Commercial exporters have also reported active buying interest from Nepal and Bangladesh with the market estimating that an aggregate volume of around 8,000 mt has been booked by buyers in these neighboring countries.
Ex-Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) export offers have decreased by $20/mt week on week to $570/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that commercial exporters have been particularly active in this segment of the market and reports indicate that an aggregate volume of around 10,000 mt has been concluded for shipment to Vietnam, while an estimated volume of another 10,000 mt has been booked by buyers in Malaysia.
At least one largest western India-based steel mill has also successfully concluded export contracts for deliveries to the Southeast Asian market for the end of May, but details of the deals have not been available in the market, the sources added.
Ex-Indian steel plates export offers have declined by $10/mt week on week to $605/mt FOB, according to market sources, but no significant transactions have been reported by either local commercial exporters or large domestic steel mills.