Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) tradable prices have inched up across regional markets during the past week amid optimism regarding the pandemic wave receding, expectations of a revival in manufacturing activities, and producers already beginning to give signals of yet another round of base price hikes in the current month, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, June 7.
Indian integrated steel mills have completed announcing higher base prices for June to take them up to the range of INR 69,000-70,000/mt ($945-959/mt) ex-works. However, the tradable price has been heard at higher levels of INR 71,000-72,000/mt ($972-986/mt) ex-Mumbai.
“Soon after the increase of base prices early last week, several integrated steel mills were giving out statements of their assessment that the landed price of ex-China HRC was still prevailing at a premium of 10-15 percent over local prices. This is being taken by the market as producers laying the ground for a second price increase in June,” a leading Mumbai-based flat products trader said.
“Some regional markets like Mumbai in the west and Delhi in the north have started lifting lockdown restrictions in phases. This should be a trigger to a revival in manufacturing, and market intermediaries have started cautious restocking, contributing to the upward movement in HRC traded prices,” he added.
According to a steel sector analyst from a Mumbai-based financial services firm and an official from an Odisha-based integrated mill said that HRC producers still having headroom to push up prices further could be looking at increasing them by a range of INR 2,000-3,000/mt ($27-41/mt) in the coming week if finished steel prices globally and particularly in China continue to show a recovery.
$1 = INR 73.00
