Local Indian cold rolled coil (
CRC) prices have remained unchanged during the past week at INR 44,500/mt ($721/mt) ex-works, against a backdrop of slack import transaction activity and low buying interest, traders said on Wednesday, February 4.
According to a Mumbai-based trader, local
CRC prices are expected to move sideways up to the end of February when the Indian federal budget will be presented before parliament.
No local buyers or importers are willing to conclude fresh deals until such time as there are clear signals from the government on tariff protections as demanded by local steel mills amid the appreciating trend of the
India currency, all of which will be determined by the provisions of the federal budget, he said.
Market sources said that ex-China
CRC offers for March shipments have dropped by $15-20/mt to the range of around $500-520/mt CFR Mumbai, but importers are holding back from concluding transactions as they await the government decision on increasing the current import duty of 7.5 percent.
The local
CRC market is currently very critically poised and can either remain at present price levels or nosedive depending on the government's decision on tariffs, the sources said.
If the government does not accede to demands for tariff protection, the continuous lowering of
CRC offers from China could open the floodgates to imports, the sources added.
$1 = INR 6.77