Some large Indian integrated steel mills have increased flat product base prices by an average of INR 500/mt ($6/mt) for April deliveries, while some still have the same low prices as last month and have not yet issued their official list prices, SteelOrbis learned from industry circles on Monday, April 8.
According to industry insiders, base prices for flat products following the marginal increase from some mills worked out at INR 53,500/mt ($642/mt) ex-works in the case of hot rolled coil (HRC). However, several officials at mills said that discounts of an average of up to INR 1,500/mt ($18/mt) continued to be offered by producers, as in the case of most deliveries in the month of March. This means that the tradable price is still hardly above INR 52,000/mt ($624/mt) ex-warehouse.
At the same time, the base price of CRC from some major mills is as low as INR 58,800/mt ($706/mt) ex-works, being at a discount already from the trade level of INR 61,200/mt ($735/mt) ex-Mumbai. This signals stable demand from small buyers, who book from distributors, and discounted sales for bigger volumes are still a priority for mills.
