Indian exporters of hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil have lowered their offers marginally during the past week by $10-15/mt to the range of $615-620/mt FOB but have failed to boost transaction activity primarily because US buyers have continued to turn down ex-Indian HDG offers, traders said on Thursday, October 20.
“Indian exporters have been forced to adjust their offers despite the Indian currency showing a bias towards appreciating against the US dollar. But despite the attempts to push volumes, US buyers have not been enticed,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Most exporters are surprised since buyers have reported that inventories at US steel distributors have fallen in October but they have been reluctant to restock imported HDG amid uncertainty regarding demand in North America,” the trader added.
Another trader said that his customers informed him that US distributors are expecting the fall in prices in the US market to gain momentum as US steel mills are increasing production and this could reduce demand for imports.
Market sources said that shipments of Indian HDG to Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have come to a near standstill amid stagnant demand.
In fact, a few of the enquiries from the GCC market have been seeking discounts of $25-30/mt on FOB basis which Indian exporters declined and so no transactions have been reported during the current week, the sources added.