Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) traded prices have remained stable during the past week on improved bookings from producers as most of them are under much lower pressure to aggressively push local sales amid the increase in export bookings received for February and March, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, January 24.
Local Indian HRC traded prices have remained unchanged at INR 63,600/mt($854/mt) ex-Mumbai, while remaining stable at INR 64,250/mt ($864/mt) ex-Chennai in the south with several market participants talking of a upside potential going forward in view of mills seeing improved export bookings and even a possible base price increase next month.
“Bookings by dealers and end-users are seen to be getting stronger. Mills have been reporting better export bookings over the past two weeks. Both provide headroom for mills to seek base price increases in February. This will also depend on how the market perceives the forthcoming national budget on February 1 to be growth-oriented,” a Mumbai-based steel distributor said.
“Some integrated steel mills have announced price increases for coated flat steel products, citing rising prices of inputs like zinc and aluminium. This is an indication of a possible increase in base prices for benchmark HRC too,” he said.
At least two traders said that they received “unofficial indications” that mills are assessing base price hikes of flat products by at least INR 1,000/mt ($13/mt) for February deliveries, if the demand revival seen now is sustained and in view of declining inventory levels over the past fortnight.
$1 = INR 74.40