India’s flat steel import trade is still limited despite the further price fall. Local re-rollers have sharply reduced fresh bookings in reaction to supply-chain disruptions among end-users and the imminent move by the government against as yet unregistered importers.
Market sources have said that re-rollers have limited themselves to only concluding deals for small-volume high quality thinner gauge ex-South Korean HRC, in view of the limited availability of the grade from integrated local steel mills.
The sources said that a western India-based steel mill has concluded a deal with POSCO for 5,000 mt of thin gauge HRC for end-of-March delivery at $535/mt CFR Nhava Seva port in the west, around $10/mt lower than deals concluded earlier. But at the moment, there are reports of offers already at $520/mt CFR. South Korean suppliers have been trying to attract customers as they have been faced with tighter competition from Chinese exporters in the international market recently. Offers for ex-China HRC have been heard at $485-490/mt CFR India, $5/mt below those reported last week.
At least two traders have said that the government is expected to move strongly to ensure complete compliance of registration of importing traders under the Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS), as only an estimated 70 percent of traders have completed the formalities and unregistered traders who were doing limited deals have stayed away as registration would increase their liabilities in terms of payment of fees and compliance costs.
