India’s flat steel imports have continued to remain in the doldrums in reaction to local currency volatility and already high inventories at both steel mills and market intermediaries, SteelOrbis has been informed. Only minor volumes have been contracted during the past week by a few exporter-traders to meet their re-export obligations, while no significant volumes were contracted by end-users.
“There are too many uncertainties prompting traders and end-users to remain on the sidelines. Fresh tariff imposition by the US on Chinese exports and the escalating China-US trade tussle are leading to instability in pricing and buyers are waiting for export offers to settle down before making deals. In any case, with Indian aggregate demand from the manufacturing sector at a recent low, there is no urgency in concluding import trades,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
Traders have also pointed out that the volatility of the Indian rupee which has been moving in either direction is also keeping importers way from concluding deals while trade credit from lending institutions is also very tight. They pointed out that the Indian rupee plunging to a six-month low during the past week breaching the INR 72 to the dollar mark, and, though it soon staged a highest single-day gain, recovering to INR 71.50 to the dollar, importers have not been willing to purchase seeing such high fluctuations.
Ex-China hot rolled coil (HRC) offers have marginally declined by $5/mt during the past week to $485/mt CFR Mumbai, according to market sources. A few eastern India-based traders have reported booking small volumes aggregating not more than 5,000 mt, to meet their long-term re-export obligations to neighboring markets like Nepal for end-September deliveries.
Ex-China import offers for cold rolled coils (CRC) have been maintained at around $500/mt CFR Mumbai, according to market sources, who added that no significant trades have been reported in the market during the past week
Imported steel plate offers to India
Ex-China steel plate offers have moved down by $10/mt during the past week to $520/mt CFR Mumbai, according to market sources, but did not find any buyers.