Buoyed by the improvement in demand from Turkish and European customers and also fueled by the ongoing rise in input costs, Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) suppliers have continued to push up their offer prices in major markets. Following a temporary pause in offerings to the Emirati market in order to properly determine price levels in the region, by the middle of the current week Indian HRC suppliers have returned to the market, though, with resistance seen from customers so far.
Accordingly, this week Indian suppliers have started voicing their HRC offers to Emirati customers at $870-875/mt CFR Jebel-Ali, around $40-45/mt higher than initially expected and at least $85/mt higher than offers in the middle of January. Some Indian HRC sellers have been encouraged to seek even higher levels. In particular, offers at $900/mt CFR have also been heard this week in the UAE. “There is not much from the buyers’ side at present, though we will have a better view once the Chinese are back,” an official at an Indian steel mill stated. “There are no takers at these prices. I believe we will get some certainty after February 10,” a UAE-based trader stated.
Meanwhile, early this week, a 15,000 mt ex-India HRC cargo was booked at $840/mt CFR to an Omani customer, SteelOrbis has learned.