Indian exporters of hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil have kept their offers unchanged during the past week at $720/mt FOB but no significant transactions have been reported in the market largely owing to year-end considerations and the holidays, traders said on Thursday, December 28.
“US buyers are mostly out of the market and not inclined to conclude any transactions at the year-end,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Indian HDG exporters are also unwilling to aggressively push volumes overseas. Large steel mills are staying away from the export markets in view of their own rising input costs and the great difficulty in passing on higher costs to overseas buyers,” the trader added.
Market sources said that ex-India HDG offers ranging around $780/mt CFR Gulf do not find any takers in the Gulf Co-operation Council markets where demand for flat products is seen to be weakening. They said that, at the same time, with ex-China offers at around $770/mt CFR Gulf, Indian exporters are unable to compete and clinch transactions in the region.