Indian integrated steel mills have largely maintained their hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils in a range of $790-810/mt FOB, but have refrained from responding to bids at the lower end of the range from buyers in the GCC market. As a result, export activity has been low, traders said on Thursday, January 21.
The traders said that most local steel mills are out of the export market owing to strong domestic demand for hot rolled coil (HRC) and the restricted output from downstream value-adding re-rolling mills. Bids at below $800/mt FOB submitted by buyers in the GCC were not followed up.
“Ex-China HDG offers are seen to be weakening. Indian exporters are not inclined to adjust prices in view of strong local demand and realizations and are staying away from export markets barring stray deals in the EU where higher valuations are more acceptable,” an official at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited said.
“With low output of captive re-rolling mills and low HDG inventories at mill-end, exporters are well placed to wait for prices to bounce back before assessing export allocations,’ he added.