India’s flat steel imports persisted at minimal levels during the past week, largely owing to local prices at recent lows and with declining manufacturing sector growth there is no appetite for replenishing stocks through inward shipments among end-users, traders said on Thursday, November 7.
Ex-China hot rolled coil (HRC) offers have been maintained at $420-430/mt CFR Mumbai, but there have been reports of discounts of 5-10 percent to conclude deals, but even this has failed to attract deals for significant volumes during the past week.
With local HRC from integrated steel mills available at a 36-month low, standalone CRC conversion steel mills have preferred local materials to imported materials as shipping in small volumes is not economically viable for the latter.
“Of course India walking out from signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade pact of 15 countries is being celebrated by steel producers as it translates to continued protection from imports, while sentiments among user industries and major importers have turned negative,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Without the option of cheaper imports, user industries will be hamstrung in improving costs of production and improving competitiveness of domestic value-adding manufacturing and this has contributed to prospective importers staying on the sidelines and reassessing their import requirements in the medium term” he added.