Indian flat steel import activity has remained muted during the past week reacting to the local currency weakening to a two-month low against the US dollar and local prices continuing to remain below the landed price of imports inclusive of antidumping duties, SteelOrbis has learned.
Ex-China hot rolled coil (HRC) offers from traders have softened $10/mt week on week to $410-420/mt CFR Mumbai. The sources said that a few low-volume import deals were concluded for ex-China HRC by southern India-based steel pipe and tube producers for captive rolling to cold rolled coil (CRC) for end-December delivery at the lower end of the range at $410/mt CFR, but reportedly with an additional discount.
The traders said that the wakening of the Indian rupee during the past week to INR 72.10 to the US dollar coupled with still low domestic prices has made the effective landed price of imports with antidumping duties much higher than the discounted price of local HRC.
“There is a large price differential between local HRC and the landed price of imported HRC inclusive of antidumping duties. Now, with the Indian rupee falling to a two-month low, the price differential has increased further with imports becoming more expensive in rupee terms. There are no buyers among end-users at a time when finished product sales are sluggish,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Cases of steel pipe manufacturers concluding stray import deals are more due to localized supply-side issues with domestic suppliers and are not a sustainable trend,” he added.
