Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) base prices have been maintained during the past week at INR 47,500/mt ($651/mt) ex-works, but the tradable price has surged beyond INR 50,000/mt ($685/mt) in reaction to the tightening of hot rolled coil (HRC) availability at integrated steel mills, particularly thinner gauge grades, sources told SteelOrbis on Monday, October 12.
Traders and market sources said that western Indian steel mills like JSW Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) have reportedly been concluding bookings with end-users at high prices around INR 52,000/mt ($713/mt) ex-works.
According to sources, traders were reported to be restocking at prices at around INR 52,500/mt ($719/mt) ex-works.
In the eastern region, steel mills were concluding supply contracts with end-users at a slightly lower price in the range of INR 50,000-51,000/mt ($685-689/mt) ex-works, sources said.
Trading circles and officials at producing companies said that the automobile industry has seen increasing booking volumes in anticipation of higher passenger car sales during the festival months of October and November, backed by 9.81 percent growth in four-wheeler registrations in September.
Most large passenger car manufacturers have reportedly increased output to cater to higher festival season sales, and this has been reflected in the uptick in CRC volume bookings with integrated steel mills.
At the same time, most CRC producers among integrated steel mills have been facing internal shortages of thinner gauge HRC amid rising demand and the high volume off-take of the latter. Standalone re-rolling mills producing special auto grade CRC have also been increasing their tradable prices to factor in higher prices of commercial procurement of HRC, market sources said.
$1 = INR 72.98