India’s flat steel import activity has showed slight signs of a revival particularly in trades for premium quality ex-South Korea hot rolled coils (HRC) with local stand-alone re-rollers active in concluding deals after the Indian government kept the current import duty regime unchanged, SteelOrbis has been informed on Thursday, February 6.
According to traders, with ex-South Korean offers remaining stable during the week after suppliers announced higher offer prices and no new tariffs, re-rollers became active in increasing HRC booking volumes for conversion to cold rolled coil by re-rollers and end-users.
Market sources said that a western India-based re-roller has concluded a deal for 12,000 mt ex-South HRC at $560/mt CFR Mumbai for end-of-March delivery. POSCO is reported to have concluded a contract for 15,000 of HRC at $559/mt CFR with another western India based re-roller which has an exclusive CRC supply contract with a southern India-based South Korean auto major. The previous transaction level for ex-South Korea HRC was $550/mt CFR in mid-January, while offers from both South Korea and Japan increased to $550-565/mt CFR last week.
“Demand for imported HRC is improving among re-rollers expecting a surge in CRC demand as several new automobile manufacturers like Kia Motors and Morris Garage, which have just entered the Indian market, are increasing production even though overall auto sales remain sluggish,” a Mumbai-based trader said. “Most of these new automobile entrants are seeking higher quality steel inputs and hence local re-rollers are increasing imports to clinch long-term supply contracts with these new auto companies,” the trader added.
At the same time, after the recent slump in China’s local HRC market, the indicative price for ex-China HRC in India dropped by $20/mt to $490-500/mt CFR, sources said.
