Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained stable and, even though bookings have been negligible, the market has found some supply-side support as large mills have been reducing conversion and output from captive rolling mills and reducing dispatches to the market.
Sources said that the 0.9 mm benchmark CRC price has been stable at INR 53,300/mt ($623/mt) ex-Mumbai and unchanged at INR 54,600/mt ($639/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Notably, large industrial users including automobile manufacturers are still away from the market in the new year and are unlikely to aggressively restock anticipating slow movement of finished products after the price hikes they announced and hence they are not expected to increase factory output significantly, resulting in reduced demand for raw materials.
“The price stability is more owing to supply-side changes rather than any uptick in demand or trade volumes. Large integrated mills are lowering CRC movement to the market by reducing output of their rolling mills,” a Mumbai-based distributor said.
“Market intermediaries too are cautious in restocking as the fiscal year-end approaches and distributors are either facing working capital shortages or conserving cash on the books,” he added.
$1 = INR 85.50
