In the past week, Indian hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil export offers have maintained upward momentum gaining $10/mt, reaching $875/mt CFR US on the back of stronger demand from the US and amid increased offer prices from Chinese steel mills.
"A demand revival in the US resulted in a sharp increase in inquiries. Healthy volumes have also been transacted for end-December deliveries," a Mumbai trader said.
"Reports received in the markets indicate that Chinese mills received heavy US bookings for HDG coils, prompting the mills to increase offers. Indian exporters have moved in to grab a part of the market share quoting competitive export offers," the trader added.
According to market sources, inquiries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region have also improved during the past week, but the transaction volume has remained low, since a few offers have been rejected for being on the higher side.
However, the market sources said that Indian HDG coil exporters have been virtually forced to exit the European market, rejecting buyers from the region seeking transactions at levels of $725-750/mt, which were found to be unattractive by exporters.