Local Indian trade-level hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have showed a mixed trend in the past week, stable in major markets, with slight gains in others owing to continued logistical issues, while some traders are heard to be confirming bookings at discounts for year-end stock liquidation, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, March 17.
Sources said that HRC trade prices are stable at INR 50,250/mt ($576/mt) ex-Mumbai while edging up by INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 51,000/mt ($584/mt) ex-Chennai in the south attributed to short supplies at the local stockyards of distributors.
However, at the same time, some bookings in the western region were heard at levels of INR 48,900-49,600/mt ($561-569/mt) net of discounts, as mid-sized distributors off-loaded stocks to improve cash on books when closing accounts for the current fiscal year on March 31, the sources said.
It was pointed out that prices lacked direction amid very weak trading volumes, as market participants in the north and west have been mostly absent because of the Festival of Colours.
Meanwhile, there has been pessimism in the market owing to significant delay in the announcement of a safeguard duty levy by the government. Citing trade-level information, the sources said that an estimated 130,000 mt of import bookings are expected to land at Indian ports by March 31.
“The demand-supply imbalance is getting acute. The delays in imposition of a safeguard duty and the check on imports is making the mood very bearish. Overall sentiments will remain very cautious and will be reflected in an uncertain price direction in the short and medium terms,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
$1 = INR 87.20