Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have shown signs of consolidating at higher levels over the past week, following base price hikes announced by mills last week and a modest revival in demand as reflected in improved trade volumes, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry sources on Monday, August 11.
Sources said that HRC trade prices have inched up INR 300/mt ($3/mt) to INR 49,200/mt ($562/mt) ex-Mumbai and have gained INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 51,200/mt ($585/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to sources, the increase in base prices was partially absorbed by the market, as improving demand prompted more industrial buyers and distributors to commit to new bookings from mills.
They said demand is expected to remain firm until the end of September, before dipping as business activity slows during the long festival holidays. However, some market intermediaries maintained that it was “too early to call the current market a rebound” as trade prices remain below mills’ newly listed prices, indicating that significant volumes are still available amid relatively weak demand.
“A definitive price direction can emerge only around end-October, after the festival holidays. The interim will see prices being range-bound and large industrial demand complete raw material requirement assessments for the next quarter based on macro-economic indicators,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“The reversal of the prolonged downtrend seen over the past two weeks is a positive. But the mood is still cautious because there are a lot of headwinds ahead, in form of an overall economic slowdown and challenges of the impact of the global tariff war seen across several geographies,” he added.
$1 = INR 87.40
