Over the past week, prices in the local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) market have decreased for a second consecutive week, down INR 300/mt week on week to INR 41,500/mt ($582/mt) ex-works, with market intermediaries expecting base price adjustments and due to a revival of import bookings, traders said on Monday, January 21.
“After maintaining base prices unchanged for the last two months, the market expects that local steel mills will have little option but to lower base prices given their rising inventories and their need to lower inventories as the current fiscal year draws to a close. Expectations of lower base prices have prompted dealers to stay away from booking Indian material,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
Market sources said that, with ex-China HRC offers weakening over the past week, they posed stronger competition to Indian HRC and some local traders were seen to be shifting to higher-volume import bookings rather than fresh bookings with local steel mills.
The sources said that, according to market expectations, domestic steel mills could be considering a INR 500/mt cut in HRC base prices early next month.
$1 = INR 71.26