Indian integrated steel mills have continued to push up hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices, to the $500/mt FOB mark and above, but trades have remained limited amid the stalemate between buyers and sellers, SteelOrbis has been informed on Monday, August 24.
Market sources said that Indian HRC exporters have pushed up offers to $500-510/mt FOB during the past week, compared to deals concluded in the range of $480-495/mt FOB in the previous week.
But most traders have confirmed that even limited volume deals were concluded at lower levels of $485-495/mt FOB as buyers in Asian markets were not finding current offers acceptable.
Most sources said that the export market is in a stalemate with buyers expecting prices to indicate a downward correction, as demand has not been so good, and they have preferred to wait and watch before concluding deals. At the same time, sellers are confident of prices consolidating at higher levels on the back of higher prices in Europe and China. Moreover, Indian integrated steel mills are not under pressure to push higher volumes overseas immediately given rising local demand.
A major mill has sold 20,000 mt of HRC to Vietnam at $510/mt CFR over the past week, which translates to around $485-490/mt FOB. New offers are at $500/mt FOB or $525/mt CFR, but “the market is not so strong to accept this,” a source said.
Sources said that a western India-based steel mill concluded a trade for an estimated volume of around 12,000 mt to China at around $495/mt FOB.
An eastern India-based producer with a steel mill in Odisha has concluded a deal with a Shanghai-based trading firm for about 15,000 mt at a price of around $500/mt FOB, market sources said, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication as most sources consider this price level to be desirable, but not to have been accepted so far.
