Indian flat product imports, largely restricted to cold rolled coils (CRC) have revived marginally in response to ex-China offers edging down but inward shipment volumes were not up as expected in reaction to reports that the Indian government had deferred a decision on hiking import duties across steel product imports, traders said on Wednesday, October 17.
“Most of the import transactions are limited to CRC. Meanwhile transactions in other flat products have remained very limited to few merchant traders and actual users have stayed on the sidelines still to re-work supply chain costs in view of the weakening Indian rupee,” a Mumbai based trader said.
According to another trader, import volumes are also limited due to a spate of holidays are around the corner over the next few days across the country and merchant traders are not interested in increasing commitments.
At the same time, small and medium scale merchant importers claimed that banks have tightened extending trade credit in view of tight liquidity in the banking system and lack of short term funding prevented these importers to cut down on transactions volumes.
Ex-China HRC offers have decreased for the second consecutive week moving down by $12/mt to $610/mt CFR Mumbai, but this have failed to attract any buyers as most dealers are reported to be carrying sufficient stocks.
Market sources said that ex-China HRC offers are expected to harden over the next few days and shipments to Vietnam is already on the rise but Indian importers refrained from rushing to conclude transactions given slowdown in overall manufacturing sector.
Ex-China CRC offers have declined by $10/mt to $720/mt CFR Mumbai with market reports suggesting a slight increase in transaction volumes as result of end-users in consumer goods and passenger car manufacturers showing buying interest.
Sources said that auto manufacturers have also concluded import transactions for ex-South Korea CRC at premiums ranging $10-15/mt possibly owing to their requirement and quality specifications, although estimates of aggregate transactions volumes could not be ascertained.
Plate offers to India
Market sources said that ex-China plate offers have softened by $10/mt to $640/mt but no significant transactions were concluded during the past week.
However the sources said that market reports indicated that transactions have been concluded during the past week by end-users for ex-Japan pressure vessel grade steel plates at premium. But pricing details are not available.