Indian exporters’ hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil offers have remained at $700/mt FOB during the past week, with little change seen in transaction volumes, as buyers remain cautious about concluding fresh deals, traders said on Thursday, November 9.
“Despite rising US flat product prices, US buyers have been scarce in the Indian market, either because of low demand or high inventories at distributors or a combination of both,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Having lowered ex-India HDG offers twice over previous weeks, Indian exporters do not have much pricing power to push volumes or compete with lower ex-China offers,” the trader added.
According to two other traders, with strong domestic demand and uncertainties over currency movements in India, Indian steel mills can afford to shift their focus away from overseas shipments.
The Indian rupee has rebounded compared to recent levels, appreciating to levels around INR 64.90 against the US dollar and, given the uncertainty of the short-term trend of the rupee against the dollar, Indian steel mills are no longer concluding export transactions aggressively, the traders said.
Market sources said that Indian HDG shipments to the Gulf Co-operation Council region have also dried up in face of competition from China. They said that, amid low demand in the GCC, ex-China offers are at $695-710/mt on CFR basis, which cannot be matched by Indian exporters.