Indian hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil exporters have maintained their offers unchanged during the past week at $750/mt FOB, but no significant transactions have been reported from either commercial exporters or large steel mills, traders said on Thursday, April 19.
“While US buyers have been absent for several weeks, Indian exporters have also failed to push volumes to the Gulf market over the past week,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Flat product prices are steadily weakening in Gulf markets and Indian exporters are unable to sustain or increase discounts in order to keep pushing volumes in a falling price regime,” the trader added.
At least two other traders said that most offers to Gulf buyers were turned down as the latter were seeking a sharp increase in discounts which exporters did not accept, resulting in a virtual drying-up of overseas shipments of Indian HDG.
The traders said that Indian steel mills are reluctant to increase discounts and lower margins as demand in their domestic market is seen to be rising and the producers have far greater pricing power in domestic sales compared to the overseas markets.