Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have continued to seek lower levels during the past week amid oversupply in trade channels and large mills confirming bookings at discounts to base prices, even though the rate of decline in prices has eased slightly.
Sources said that HRC trade prices are down INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 48,000/mt ($541/mt) ex-Mumbai and have fallen by INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 49,800/mt ($561/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
According to sources, large mills have been facing inventory pressures and a few large bookings have been confirmed at discounts ranging at 2-5 percent over base listed prices, compounding the bearish sentiment across trade channels.
At the same time, discounted sales at trade level have been heard at around INR 47,000/mt ($529/mt) in the western regional market, lower than INR 47,400/mt ($535/mt) net of discount reported a week ago, the sources added.
“There is only need-based buying by consumers across sectors. Sluggish overall manufacturing growth is preventing users across segments from building raw material inventories. At the same time, flow of volumes from mills is also rising, increasing pressure on trade prices,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“Of course, the rate of decline in prices eased over the past week. But there is nothing positive to be drawn from it because trade volumes are extremely thin and even these small-volume sales are at a discount. We see the weak market conditions being prolonged,” he added.
$1 = INR 88.79
