Ex-India hot dipped galvanized (HDG) coil trade remained barely alive by stray discounted deals in few African markets, while offers in the Gulf region failed to elicit any response, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Thursday, August 25.
Ex-India 0.5-1 mm HDG price was at $850-860/mt FOB versus previous offers at $870-910/mt FOB, but deals could only be concluded with $5-10/mt discounts.
The sources said that an eastern integrated mill reported a trade for 5,000 mt with a Nigeria-based buyer at $845-850/mt FOB, while another mill reported a trade of 12,000 mt at $850/mt FOB for early October delivery to another African country.
“While there had been a near consensus that prices have fallen to a bottom but such a conclusion is now at fresh risk following reports of recessionary trends in Germany and planned cutback in output in key consuming industries,” an official in a private mill said.
“For Indian mills HDG is largely an export oriented product because of its limited demand among domestic automobile manufacturers barring for their export production. Hence mills have already completed rejigging their cold rolled mill product portfolio and export allocation for HDG is minimal. Hence the sustained lack of export trade activity will have minimal impact on our operations,” he said.
However, another official with a second local private mill said that the “gloom might be exaggerated” because even though Europe is coming back from the holidays soon, overall sentiments there are not bright for the coming weeks.
