Prices in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market have remained unchanged for the second consecutive week at INR 54,000/mt ($733/mt) ex-works, amid subdued market conditions, traders said on Tuesday, October 23.
“There is no activity in the market. Firstly, market intermediaries are cautious in restocking high priced material. Secondly, with festival holidays in few weeks, dealers want to avoid high inventory build up,” a Mumbai based trader said.
According to market sources, even reports that local steel mills are likely to hike base price across flat steel products did not trigger any rush to re-stock among either end-users or dealers.
The sources said off-take by automobile industry is expected to remain tepid as in wake of reports of auto sales dipping for the third consecutive month during September are likely to lead to cut backs in fresh CRC booking by the industry and this may trigger significant fall in transaction volumes in the market in the medium term.
$1 = INR 73.72