Prices in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market have remained stable for the second consecutive week at INR 44,000/mt ($686/mt) ex-works, amid scarce trading and lacklustre market conditions, traders said on Tuesday, December 19.
“The local flat products market is showing divergent trends. While all the price movement and trading in the market is restricted to hot rolled coil (HRC), there is no activity for CRC,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“ I would think that inventories across market participants - at steel mills, dealers and end-users - are high in the case of CRC, explaining the weakness of trading activity,” he said.
At least two other traders said that Indian steel mills are forced to be conservative in maintaining base prices unchanged for CRC deliveries in the current month in contrast to the sharp increase in the case of HRC, possibly because of comparatively low export opportunities for CRC.
$1 = INR 64.14