Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) trade prices have sought lower levels but the declines have been smaller compared to earlier weeks even as the market has continued to grapple with divergent assessments of market conditions, keeping trade channels largely on the sidelines, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, June 13.
Indian trade benchmark 0.9 mm CRC prices are down INR 1,000/mt ($13/mt) to INR 72,000/mt ($926/m) ex- Mumbai and down INR 800/mt ($10/mt) to INR 71,900/mt ($924/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Sources have pointed out that market participants have been making widely differing assessments of where prices are heading in the short and medium terms.
A section maintaining a positive outlook point towards the triple-digit growth in automobile sales in May and the good demand seen in the consumer durable market to back their claims CRC offtake will improve as prices come down.
On the contrary, others point out that, not only May automobile sales were on a low base year-on-year, but rising fuel costs and hardening interest on consumer loans will not allow sustainable sales growth for automobiles, and inflation surging to an all-time high will continue to depress consumer demand and hence demand and offtake of raw materials too.
“Trade CRC prices still have some downside risks from seasonal low demand. At best, prices can be expected to remain range-bound if re-rolling mills cut back on output to balance demand-supply dynamics,” a steel distributor said.
$1 = INR 77.77
