Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained unchanged during the past week at INR 37,800/mt ($534/mt) ex-works amid a lack of market activity and a negative outlook, with the market disappointed by the lack of any revival in demand in the automobile manufacturing sector, traders said on Monday, October 7.
According to traders, most buyers, both intermediaries and end-users, have been absent from the market owing to the long holidays and uncertainties over base pricing of domestic steel mills which were expected to announce October prices next week.
Market sources said that the much-expected bounce in demand for passenger vehicles in September ahead of the festival season had not materialized despite easier auto financing options announced by lending institutions. At the same time, while most automobile manufacturers are carrying unprecedented levels of inventories, the option of exports too was getting limited in the wake of international trade headwinds with Indian automobile exports in September falling 18 percent year on year.
Under these circumstances, raw material restocking has been at its lowest ebb, reflecting the stagnant CRC market conditions, the sources added.
$1 = INR 70.79