Over the past week, pricing pressure from buyers in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market has eased and prices have remained stable at INR 53,500/mt ($733/mt) ex-works, with large domestic steel mills deciding to hold base prices unchanged for current month deliveries and also with the support of the slight uptick in restocking by dealers, traders said on Tuesday, November 6.
“With base prices remaining stable, dealers were seen to be restocking even as there was a rise in import shipments,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“However, a few key fundamentals continue to be a concern: one being falling sales of passenger vehicles, which could be a portent of lower bookings from manufacturers. Under the circumstances, I would feel that the upside potential for CRC prices will be very limited, and prices are expected to remain range-bound in the short term,” he added.
According to market sources, local steel mills are saddled with higher-than-normal inventories, which prompted them to refrain from increasing base prices as the market expected. But having maintained base prices unchanged for the current month and if inventories continue to rise, steel mills are reportedly considering offering volume discounts starting later this month.
$1 = INR 73.03