Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have shown a mixed trend, with declines seen in the southern regional market on reports of discounted sales by a few large re-rollers reacting to inventory rises and defaults in lifting stocks by some buyers on long-term supply contracts.
Sources said that the 0.9 mm benchmark CRC price was stable at INR 64,600/mt ($673/mt) ex-Mumbai but lost INR 1,000/mt ($10/mt) to INR 65,500/mt ($682/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to the sources, some re-rollers were forced to liquidate stocks rendered surplus after a few of their buyers on long-term contracts defaulted on lifting stocks in the current month, citing output cuts at their factories.
It was pointed out that government efforts to push through economic austerity measures to check fuel consumption were expected to dampen sales growth in CRC-consuming industries like automobiles, and manufacturers were therefore resorting to only need-based restocking of raw materials.
“Every industrial sector is facing cost-push pressures along with demand depression. Conserving cash has become a priority for manufacturing companies, and raw material restocking has become extremely conservative. It is only a matter of time before these factors weigh on the CRC price line,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
$1= INR 95.88
