The improvements in deals for ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) have suffered setbacks after some movements to Vietnam and the Gulf despite sellers further cutting prices as buyers are asking for even more price decreases, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Indian mills have dropped boron-added SAE1006 HRC prices to $690-720/mt FOB, with the lower end of the range declining by $5/mt, while the higher end is down by $10/mt from late last week. But the mills were unable to sign deals after those made last week or earlier, with buyers looking for lower prices and competition in general has increased much amid low offers from China.
“HRC prices have weakened across most geographies over the past week. There is a lot of material available in most Asian markets. India sellers are dropping prices continuously to push sales overseas, but key destinations like the Gulf are seeing stalled demand for Indian material,” an official at a private mill said.
“The initial success of Indian mills in pushing export tax-exempt alloyed HRC overseas seems to be fizzling out. In the Gulf, buyers are already stocked up,” he said.
Export trade activity was sustained at low levels by some deals for alloy HRC by buyers in Vietnam over the past two weeks. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, the last deal to Vietnam was done at $738/mt CFR (or $708/mt FOB), but since then the indicative price level for ex-India coils in Vietnam has come down to $725/mt CFR ($695/mt FOB). But even the lower levels are already too high for Vietnamese buyers as the tradable level for ex-China SAE HRC has already slipped to $705/mt CFR at best.
The latest deal for ex-India boron-added HRC to the pipe maker in the UAE has been reported at $770/mt CFR, translating to about $720/mt FOB, down by the previous assessment of $780/mt CFR or higher last week. The latest offer to the UAE from one of the Indian sellers has already been heard at $760/mt CFR or $710/mt FOB, reflecting the continuing bearishness.
Ex-India HRC offers to Turkey have slipped to $750-760/mt CFR, but no new deals are reported so far as the market has not settled yet.