Imports of HRC in India have increased this week given lower allocations in the domestic market due to a maintenance shutdown at one of the biggest Indian steelmakers, JSW Steel, coupled with more competitive import coil prices compared to local offers. Thus, according to market sources, at least 100,000 mt of import HRC have been booked this week.
Specifically, two deals from Chinese traders for 17,000 mt and 20,000-25,000 mt, respectively, are reported to have been booked by Indian customers at $610-615/mt CFR for September shipment. Furthermore, according to sources, a Vietnamese producer has sold around 65,000 mt in total of HRC at $612-615/mt CFR.
This week, local Indian HRC trade prices have increased by INR 300/mt ($4/mt) to INR 55,600/mt ($677/mt) ex-Mumbai and are up by INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 54,300/mt ($661/mt) ex-Chennai in the south, as SteelOrbis reported.
