After a brief lull, prices in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market have resumed their uptrend with prices increasing by 500 INR/mt week on week to INR 53,000/mt ($786/mt) ex-works, as most mills completed price revisions for the current month but amid reports of a slight dip in trading volumes, traders said on Tuesday, June 12.
“Almost all large mills have completed their base price revisions, increasing prices on average by INR 500/mt for CRC and dealers have been quick to pass on the hike to their customers,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“However, dealers across the different regions in India are carrying high inventories and hence are cautious about making fresh bookings at current higher levels, leading to a slight fall in volume activity in the market,” the trader added.
Market sources said that CRC exports by large domestic steel mills are showing divergent trends with most maintaining offers unchanged in the range of $640-660/mt FOB, but one large western India-based exclusively flat product manufacturer has reportedly increased export offers by $20/mt over the past week.
The sources said that, while no significant export transactions have been reported in the market during the past week, export shipments over the coming week would influence domestic price trends as most Indian steel mills are carrying high inventories.
If the larger mills are unable to push higher CRC volumes overseas and instead channel higher volumes for domestic sale, this would check the upside potential of local Indian prices, the sources added.
$1 = INR 67.45