Indian integrated steel mills were able to sustain their efforts to push up hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices and though traditional Chinese buying remained cautious it was compensated by higher trades in Southeast Asian market and some deals reported in new African markets, SteelOrbis learned on Monday.
According to market sources, ex-India HRC export prices increased to range of $445-455/mt FOB, which was about $15/mt higher than deals concluded in earlier week. At the same time, offers have reached $460-465/mt FOB.
The traditional sales destinations like Southeast Asia have remained in the focus of Indian exporters. Sources said that an eastern India based steel mill concluded two deals with buyers in Asia. The first deal was reported for tonnage estimated at 25,000 mt with Vietnam based trading firm at price range of $445-450/mt FOB, which corresponds to $470-475/mt CFR. The second deal for estimated tonnage of 30,000 mt was with a Philippine buyer at price of around $450/mt FOB. Apart from this there have been more deals heard to Vietnam from India over the past week. Sources have been discussing a contract at $455/mt FOB or $480/mt CFR, but it has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), according to market sources, concluded a deal for 30,000 mt with a China-based trading firm at around $450-455/mt for September.
However, according to industry officials, the most significant deals of the week were with buyers in relatively ‘virgin markets’ of South Africa and Nigeria and this could be a huge positive for Indian steel exports if the markets could be sustained through aggressive buyer retention program by local producers.
A western India based steel mill concluded a deal with Nigeria based actual end user for 30,000-40,000 mt for October delivery at price of around $450-452/mt FOB.
A second western India based steel mill too concluded a deal for 45,000 mt with a South Africa based trading firm at price reported in range of $450-455/mt FOB, market sources said.