Indian imports of cold rolled coils (
CRC) have fallen sharply during the past week as domestic prices have been weakening and as Chinese
CRC offers at around $620/mt CFR Mumbai have remained above buyers' expectations with a discount of $5/mt having been rejected by Indian buyers, traders said on Thursday, June 12.
According to a Mumbai-based trader, very few transactions have been reported during the week as importers are seeking
CRC offers at around $600/mt CFR to conclude new purchases for August shipments.
Offers in the range of around $600-605/mt would mean a landed price (inclusive of all taxes and local duties) of around $740/mt - which would ensure a margin of around $80/mt for the importer - the very minimum level at which local buyers are willing to conclude transactions, the trader said.
Elaborating, he said that local
CRC prices have fallen by around INR 1,500/mt ($26/mt) since late last month to around INR 49,000/mt ($833/mt) inclusive of taxes and import volumes and are unlikely to see an uptrend without a minimum $80/mt difference between the landed price of imported
CRC and the domestic price.
At current offers, the landed price for ex-China
CRC works out at about $765/mt, which does not offer the importer sufficient margins, the trader added.
Sources said that just one transaction for imported
CRC has been concluded during the past week at the current offer level of $620/mt CFR for August shipment.
Market sources said that local mills like JSW Steel and Tata Steel have already announced higher production of
CRC from June onwards and traders are unwilling to build up inventories of imported
CRC and increase their carrying costs.