Local Indian cold rolled coil (CRC) trade prices have inched up on expected base price hikes by mills, but concerns have persisted on the demand side as larger auto companies continued to post declining March sales, ruling out significant upticks in bookings, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, March 4.
Indian CRC trade prices are up INR 400/mt ($5/mt) to INR 85,800/mt ($1131/mt) ex-Mumbai and have also gained INR 400/mt ($5/mt) to INR 86,700/mt ($1144/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
“The largest of the passenger car makers have continued to report a fall in March sales. Consumer durable manufacturers are increasing prices amid weak demand. These elements will keep CRC demand soft in the medium term at least,” a Mumbai-based steel distributor said.
“Integrated mills are efficiently managing CRC inventories by keeping value-added output from captive rolling mills at lower levels. Standalone re-rolling mills are facing mounting inventories as buyers on long-term contracts have continue to defer deliveries. But we do not see much negative impact from this on prices as mills have a lot of leverage to increase base prices,” he said.
Several market participants said that market expectations for an early April base price increase by mills are around INR 3,000/mt ($40/mt), with more increases expected to follow in the course of the month.
$1 = INR 75.80
