India’s HRC import trade has remained limited during the past week with both traders and end-users already facing delays in pre-ordered shipments. However, some tonnages of HRC from South Korea were booked at a much lower price.
According to the reports, a small cargo of about 10,000 mt of ex-South Korea HRC has been booked at around $500/mt CFR. This level is about $30/mt lower compared to the level earlier in February. Suppliers have been faced with lower sales in Southeast Asia due to tighter competition with Chinese sellers and have been forced to cut prices for Indian buyers to stimulate deals.
According to traders, there have been supply chain disruptions from key exporting countries like China, South Korea and Japan, and port congestion along Asian shipping routes, and several end-users have not seen the conclusion of February deliveries.
Reports have been received in the market during the past week indicating that the Indian government is planning to impose restrictions on imports of high quality auto grade steel in order to encourage the government’s “Make in India’ policy. This has impacted sentiments in import trade as it is not clear whether such planned restrictions would include imports of ex-Japan and ex-South Korea high grade hot rolled coil (HRC) for conversion to cold rolled coil (CRC) by re-rollers, for which there are long-term supply contracts with domestic automobile manufacturers.