Prices in the local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) market have remained stable during the past week at INR 51,000/mt ($746) ex-works, even though the market remains concerned due to high inventories at both dealers and steel mills, traders said on Tuesday, July 17.
“There is little activity in the market as dealers are already carrying higher than normal CRC inventories. Even those inclined to make fresh bookings are delaying placing their orders, expecting high inventories at steel mills to impact prices in the coming month,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“The fact that there have been no reports of any ex-India CRC export contracts during the past weeks has also aggravated concerns that high inventories are unlikely to be liquidated rapidly,” the trader added.
According to at least two other traders, they have heard from two large steel mills that the latter would maintain higher capacity utilizations despite higher-than-normal inventories.
These traders said that higher production coupled with high inventories is an indicator that local steel mills may adjust base prices next week to be able to push higher CRC volumes into the market.
$1 = INR 68.37