Indian flat steel export offers have increased marginally during the past week, with commercial exporters seeking to offset the upward bias of the local currency against the US dolar, but hardly any deals have been reported in the market, traders said on Monday, April 8.
“Indian commercial exporters’ efforts to push up offers to counter the upward movement of the rupee against the dollar have proved to be counter-productive and faced resistance from buyers as ex-China flat steel offers were showing a decline,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Traders have also been facing liquidity issues in terms of working capital requirements from lending institutions and hence they have been unwilling to aggressively push to conclude transactions by offering credit terms on their own,” the trader added.
Ex-Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) offers have marginally increased by $5/mt week on week to $555/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that, barring one small-volume contract for shipment to Bangladesh, no other export contract has been reported in the market during the past week.
Large Indian steel mills also stayed away from the export market as they had yet to finalize their pricing strategy for the current month as buyers from key markets like Vietnam and Malaysia have also been reluctant to conclude bookings at the current higher price levels, the market sources said.
Ex-India cold rolled coil (CRC) offers have remained stable at $600/mt FOB during the past week, according to market sources, but no significant volume contract has been reported in the market.
According to two traders, buyers from Southeast Asian markets have reportedly been seeking discounts ranging around $10-20/mt on FOB offers, but Indian commercial exporters have been unwilling to accede to such demands as export margins were already under strain with the rupee appreciating against the dollar.
Ex-India plate offers have increased by $10/mt during the past week to $625/mt FOB, according to market sources, but no transaction has been reported in the market, the sources added.