Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices remained largely stable amid inactive market conditions owing to festival holidays with some sections seeing risks of small declines going ahead, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, August 22.
Indian HRC trade price remained stable at INR 57,000/mt ($713/mt) ex-Mumbai and unchanged at INR 57,600/mt ($721/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
A Mumbai based distributor said that while a sharp fall in trade activity could be attributed to the spate of festival holidays, ‘a small decline’ from current prices was imminent.
He said that relative price stability was more from the supply side as mills were cutting down output or going in for plant maintenance rather than any improvement on the demand side. But since mill end inventory was still heard to be on the higher side in view of slump in overseas sales, a base price cut in September was a possibility and hence trade and users were deferring bookings.
“Flat product prices are near bottom. Declines from this level will be minor. But at the same time, we do not assess any upside potential either. Mills’ prices will show a mixed trend depending on inventory levels of respective producers,” an official with a government mill said.
“The decline in imported coking coal prices [seen in July] is a breather for mills. Some mills could take the opportunity to pass on its benefits by a small cut in base price to drive local sales in September. Pricing committees will start reviewing September prices from the end of current week onwards,” he said.
