Indian flat steel export offers have remained largely unchanged during the past week, apart from hot rolled coil (HRC), with little material change in trading activity with only a few stray low-volume contracts concluded for shipments to neighboring countries, traders said on Monday, April 15.
“The export market has been at a low ebb for the past several weeks and is unlikely to change in the short term. Commercial exporters have no incentive to aggressively push volumes overseas. There is political uncertainty with the national elections underway and uncertainty over the formation of the next government. The Indian currency too is seen to be hovering just above the INR 70 to the dollar mark and little scope for larger margins from currency weakness is expected,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Some commercial exporters have pushed up their offers for ex-India HRC in line with similar adjustments seen for ex-China offers but, barring a few buyers from neighboring markets, no significant volumes have been contracted at such higher offer levels,” the trader added.
Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) offers have increased by $10/mt during the past week to $565/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that scattered low-volume trades have been reported in the market for end-of-April deliveries to Bangladesh and Nepal.
As per information available in the market, an aggregate volume of around 5,000 metric tons was contracted for delivery to Bangladeshi buyers, while shipment volumes to Nepal were estimated at 4,000 metric tons overall, the sources added.
Ex-India offers for cold rolled coil (CRC) price have remained stable during the past week at $600/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that at least two medium-volume contracts for Vietnam delivery were reported in the market during the week but no assessment of the aggregate volume of trade was readily available.
Ex-Indian plate offers have remained unchanged during the past week at around $625/mt FOB, according to market sources.
The sources said that one western India-based large steel mill reported concluding a small-volume contract for delivery to Malaysia without any estimate of volume, while commercial exporters in this product segment have remained inactive during the past week.