Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) trade prices have remained stable amid continuing negative sentiments as most ongoing long-term January-March supply negotiations between rolling mills and large buyers remain unresolved and low trading volumes have been seen in the spot market, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, November 28.
Indian trade prices for benchmark 0.9 mm CRC have remained stable at INR 62,600/mt ($767/mt) ex-Mumbai and are unchanged at INR 62,000/mt ($760/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to a Mumbai-based steel distributor, most long-term negotiations have remained stalled over sharp differences between buyers and sellers. He said that reports in the market indicate that, while buyers are seeking a 7-10 percent reduction over current supply contracts, rolling mills were seeking a price based on the average price over the current quarter.
“The market is lacking direction as most industrial buyers are cautious in committing bookings amid the uncertain impact of inflationary pressures on their sales growth and the possibilities of a hardening of interest rates by the central bank in December. It is a very price-sensitive market which has to be taken into consideration as our pricing committee meets over this week to set the December base price,” an official at a private mill said.
“We do not see a rebound in market conditions in the near term. The best we can expect is some kind of price stability,” he said.
$1 = INR 81.60
