Indian mills have mainly maintained their hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices this week, but have been adopting different sales approaches of almost not submitting firm offers in Asia and the Middle East, but continuing to focus on Europe, though failing to succeed in concluding new deals there so far.
Specifically, ex-India HRC prices are reported at $590-640/mt FOB, the same as last week, where the lower end of the range corresponds to indicative offers in Asia and the Middle East, while the higher end corresponds to offers in Europe. Besides, according to sources, several offers have been voiced at even $650/mt FOB, given the euro’s fluctuations against the US dollar this week. In particular, following several deals signed at €640/mt CFR in southern and northern Europe last week, ex-India HRC is reported as being offered to Italy at around €630/mt CFR, which translates to around $640/mt FOB. “This week, the euro has weakened slightly against the US dollar, which means offers at €630/mt CFR correspond to the same level on FOB basis as those at €640/mt CFR last week,” an international trader told SteelOrbis. At the same time, ex-India HRC offers in Spain and northern Europe have been heard at €640/mt CFR, the same as last week, but higher by $10/mt on FOB basis at around $650/mt FOB. “Some customers have reported offers for Indian HRC at even €660/mt CFR, but through traders, who usually add around €30/mt to mills’ initial offers,” another trader said.
At the same time, rumours have been circulating in the market of ex-India HRC deals signed at lower levels in the EU, specifically at around $670-680/mt CFR, or around $610-620/mt FOB, but no official confirmation has been provided by the time of publication.
According to sources, even though prices have been improving in the Asian region, led by ex-China HRC gains in Vietnam, the movement has still been too slow for Indian sellers, who are more optimistic of securing better prices in the months ahead in markets like Spain and Italy.
“We are working on keeping exports alive based on discounts now and better prices in the next few months. This is only for Europe where we see better opportunities compared to markets closer home. Vietnam, a very important market for Indian exports, is slow as buyers have multiple sourcing options,” an official at an eastern India-based private mill told SteelOrbis.
“We have very low export allocations for November-December and hence sales of small lots are a good move to sustain exports. We can be more aggressive in terms of pushing higher volumes in January, once the European market improves and we are able to increase export allocations for the last quarter,” another market insider said.
