Indian HRC exporters have continued to cut prices for its major trading destinations, the Middle East and Europe, trying to accelerate sales, as support from the local market in terms of pushing volumes has slowed down.
Ex-India HRC price has been lowered further to $950-1,100/mt FOB, down by $60/mt on the lower end of the range and down $50/mt on the higher end reported earlier this week. Moreover, on a week-on-week basis, prices have lost $85/mt on average.
In Europe, the highest offers from India mills have been reported at $1,250/mt CFR Europe, while late last week a deal for 30,000 mt was done at $1,295/mt CFR Antwerp for S235 grade. Moreover, some suppliers can agree at $1,220-1,230/mt CFR, which translates to $1,120-1,130/mt on FOB basis. A contract to one of European customers has been done at around $1,200/mt CFR or $1,100/mt FOB.
Offers from India to the UAE have been reported at $1,020-1,060/mt CFR recently, translating to $960-990/mt FOB on average. Moreover, some mills are said to be ready to sell at $1,000/mt CFR to attract buyers.
Indian mills have still been avoiding giving offers to Vietnam, taking into account the low offers from China available there at $900-920/mt CFR.
