Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices remained stable amid thin trading volumes with industrial led by automobiles slowing down restocking and distributors pausing fresh booking awaiting November base pricing signals from producers.
Sources said that 0.9 mm CRC price was stable at INR 53,300/mt ($606/mt) ex-Mumbai and unchanged at INR 56,000/mt ($636/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to the sources, automobile manufacturers have slowed down bookings as they were almost fully stocked to meet festival season demand for their products. At the same time, distributors have not been committing fresh bookings till clarity emerged on November base prices.
It was pointed out that with hot rolled coil (HRC) prices falling at a faster rate than CRC prices, the differential between the two flat products had widened significantly, indicating the CRC price could undergo some correction to bring about a more acceptable differential between the two, from buyers’ point of view.
However, despite the prolonged slowdown in trade volumes and negative outlook on the price front, the market expected mills to seek a base price hike of around INR 1,000/mt ($11/mt) in November, to adjust to rising input costs.
$1= INR 87.94