Import pressure increases in local Indian HRC market

Declines in local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have gained momentum, with prices moving down by INR 300-500/mt ($5-8/mt) in the past week to around INR 33,000-33,300/mt ($515-519/mt) ex-works on the back of sharp declines in import offers and increased import volumes, traders said on Monday, June 8.
 
According to a Mumbai-based trader, local HRC prices have moved down for the third consecutive week against the backdrop of market disappointment over the lack of price adjustments by local mills and the continued fall in import offer prices.
 
The trader said that ex-China HRC offers have decreased by another $10/mt to around $460-470/mt CFR Mumbai for July-August shipments.
 
Import HRC offers are being aggressively priced in view of general weaknesses in several currencies, enabling exporters to India to consistently lower offers, the trader said.
 
While the Indian currency had fallen against the dollar, the weakness in other currencies has offset the impact on the landed price of imports and so transaction volumes of imported HRC have risen sharply during the past week.
 
Market sources said that local mills are offering discounts of around INR 1,000/mt ($16/mt) while keeping their base price unchanged but since the discounts are largely confined to higher transaction volumes, dealers are not interested in bookings, fearing a buildup of higher stocks at the retail level at a time when most stocks are moving very slowly.
 
$1 = INR 64.13