Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have increased by INR 500/mt week on week to INR 38,500/mt ($595/mt) ex-works amid mixed pricing signals from domestic steel mills, traders said on Monday, November 6.
“There are no definitive price signals from steel mills. Some large mills are rolling over prices for November deliveries, while some large mills have gone in for a price hike for HRC,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“I feel that the different pricings are largely based on steel mills' reactions to inventories. While some steel mills are maintaining prices unchanged to control inventories, others are putting more weight on increase margins to ease financial stress rather than focusing on inventory control,” he said.
At least two other traders held that steel mills which had hiked HRC prices are banking on the fact that there has been a sharp reduction in bookings of imported HRC and that this will trigger higher demand for domestic flat products. They also said that domestic HRC prices are cheaper by around INR 2,000/mt ($31/mt) than landed price of imports and hence the lack of import competition will help the Indian market to absorb higher volumes of local HRC.
$1 = INR 64.69