Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have inched lower during the past week with large industrial users maintaining cautious restocking activity and a section of re-rollers reporting rising inventories, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, July 27.
Sources said that benchmark 0.9 mm CRC prices have lost INR 100/mt ($1/mt) to INR 64,200/mt ($665/mt) ex-Mumbai and are also down INR 100/mt ($1/mt) to INR 64,900/mt ($673/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to the sources, key industrial users led by automobile manufacturers have been largely absent from the market or have been resorting to minimal need-based restocking, while western India-based re-rollers have been reporting higher-than-average inventories, both of which have weighed on trading sentiments.
“The current downturn in trade volumes and the weak prices are expected to extend well beyond the usual lean monsoon season. There is too much volume chasing stagnant demand,” a Mumbai-based distributor said.
“We do not see a recovery before the third quarter. The concern is mostly on the demand side, which has remained sluggish since the start of this fiscal in April. Current trade-level prices are at a bottom. But there are no positive drivers for them to recover from these levels. We have seen further downside risks of at least INR 500/mt ($5/mt) in the short term,” he added.
$1 = INR 96.39
