Indian integrated steel mills were able to push up hot rolled coil (HRC) export prices by a significant amount during the past week and are still successful in bookings, though overall sales volumes were limited over the past week.
Indian steel mills achieved HRC prices rise to $420-425/mt FOB compared to deals concluded at $385-395/mt FOB in the previous week.
A number of deals of ex-India HRC were concluded in Vietnam over the past week with buyers accepting gradual price increases. The latest bookings were done at $435-437/mt CFR and close to $440/mt CFR, which translates to $420-421/mt FOB and up to $425/mt FOB.
A week ago the tradable value was $410-415/mt CFR Vietnam. But the past week started with sales from India at $419-420/mt CFR Vietnam. Then a contract has been signed at $425/mt CFR. One more deal has been heard in the middle of the week at $427-428/mt CFR. And on Thursday the tradable value has reached $430/mt CFR before going up by another $5-10/mt, SteelOrbis learned. As a result, deal prices for ex-India coils have gained $20-25/mt over the week.
At the same time, sources mentioned that the contract volumes were not very high, ranging mostly at 5,000-30,000 mt per deal.
There were reports in the market that two private integrated steel mills have sold volumes to China at $420-425/mt FOB too, but most Chinese traders have not confirmed this information by the time of publication. Some international traders have also doubted it, taking into account local HRC prices weakening in China recently. On Monday, the average HRC prices in China has declined by RMB 25/mt ($3.5/mt), according to SteelOrbis info.
“Production in most traditional steel exporting countries are down since the outbreak of the pandemic. Production in non-traditional steel exporting countries like India is also down, but with negligible domestic demand, Indian steel mills are filling the breach in demand in key overseas markets,” a senior official at Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) said.
