Indian hot dip galvanized (HDG) exporters have met only modest success in pushing volumes to the US after lowering their offers for that market by $15-20/mt during the past week to around $870-875/mt CFR, traders said on Wednesday, October 8.
According to a Mumbai-based trader, HDG exporters have been able to lower their offers helped by the Indian rupee which has continued to remain weak below the INR 61 to a dollar mark. However, only modest volumes have been successfully transacted during the week, owing to the sharper fall in offer prices for ex-China HDG and reports of oversupply of flat products in the US market, he added.
Sources said that US buyers are cautious about concluding transactions for large volumes against the backdrop of a fall in flat product prices in the US in reaction to higher domestic production and a rise in imports, and so distributors are unwilling to build up inventories of imported Indian HDG.
No significant transactions have been reported from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region in view of Feast of Sacrifice holiday and business activity from the region has yet to pick up, the sources added.