Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have posted marginal gains over the past week, showing only a modest response to the recent base price hikes by mills, as the demand outlook has remained bearish. Most major industrial buyers, led by automobile manufacturers, reported negative sales growth in July, and are expected to remain cautious about restocking raw materials.
Sources said that benchmark 0.9 mm CRC prices have edged up INR 100/mt ($1.50/mt ) to INR 55,100/mt ($630/mt) ex-Mumbai and have indicated a modest gain of INR 200/mt ($3/mt) to INR 59,300/mt ($678/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to sources, the marginal gains indicated that the base price increase has been partially absorbed by the market, which is seen as a positive sign. However, prices have continued to face strong upside resistance from stagnant demand, as major consumers such as the automobile industry are expected to maintain cautious restocking. They pointed out that declining sales growth over the past two consecutive months would keep expectations for a surge in festival-season sales in September-October subdued, making CRC consumers unlikely to adopt aggressive restocking strategies and thereby limiting upward price movement.
“Prices will remain range-bound in the absence any significant supporting drivers on the demand side. There is also a lot of volume availability from re-rollers. Even though discounted sales have eased, supplies are still robust, keeping prices steady at best,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
$1 = INR 87.40