Indian mills have attempted to nudge up hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices slightly amid signs of a rebound in the Asian and Gulf markets seen from early this month, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles. However, buying in most key destinations has remained limited as the fundamentals are still not so strong.
Ex-India HRC prices are up slightly to $580-590/mt FOB, compared to $575-590/mt FOB last week.
According to the sources, buyers from the major Vietnamese market have been checking prices over the past week and, though the market was not able to confirm deals, some traders speculated on a possible trade of 10,000 mt at $615-620/mt CFR or $585-590/mt FOB. Nevertheless, since the local producer Formosa Ha Tinh has come out with the new prices for non-skip-passed SAE1006 HRC at $610/mt CFR, it seems even the small interest in import purchases will go away.
Trade circles have also been discussing a deal for 15,000 mt by an eastern region-based mill at $625-630/mt CFR or around $580/mt FOB with an UAE-based buyer. At the moment, most ex-India offers to the Middle East have been reported at $640-645/mt CFR. The same mill also concluded a deal for a small tonnage at $585/mt FOB, but the buyer’s identity could not be confirmed.
“There are greenshoots of a revival emerging in some markets. However, the EU region continues to see a decline. The cautious optimism is largely on the supply side and sellers are attempting to drive up prices and not so much by any strong demand revival,” an official at a government-run mill said.
“Raw material prices… scrap and semis are going up across geographies and mills are hence increasing prices of finished products. It is still to be seen if consuming industries absorb higher prices. Sellers are optimistic and buyers not so much. Our assessment is that we have to adopt a very flexible export pricing strategy based on buyer to buyer,” he said.
