The local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market has moved up for the second consecutive week with prices increasing by another INR 1,000/mt to INR 43,000/mt ($671/mt) ex-works but market participants are skeptic about whether higher levels will be sustained, traders said on Monday, August 14.
“Local CRC prices have increased by INR 2,000/mt just in two weeks. This rise is too fast too soon,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“The market is reacting to base price revisions announced by Indian steel mills early in the current month. The surge in CRC prices has also been triggered by a lot of talk that local steel mills are considering a second flat product price hike later this month. However, indicators like negative manufacturing growth in India does not lead to any optimism that aggregate demand will sustain such higher prices levels,” the trader added.
Sources said that, with CRC imports almost at a standstill and local steel mills adopting import parity pricing for domestic sales, prices are reacting sharply but there are a lot of uncertainties over the medium-term impact since there are no positives on the demand side.
$1 = INR 64.08
