The local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) market has continued to perform strongly during the past week with official offer prices at INR 42,500-43,000/mt ($579-585/mt) ex-works, supported by buoyancy in bookings by end-users and restocking by market intermediaries anticipating base price hikes in the weeks ahead, SteelOrbis has learned on Monday, September 21.
The sustained revival of demand has removed any possibility of a downside price correction, prompting end-users and traders to conclude fresh higher-volume bookings. Also, distinct possibilities of producers increasing base prices in October to bolster sales revenues leveraging rising demand and high trading volumes are observed in the market.
Most integrated steel mills had increased plant capacity utilizations well above the 90 percent mark on average, and even higher supplies in the market and lower export allocations were being absorbed without big pressure on prices, market sources said.
At least two traders and one official at an integrated steel mill have said that October HRC base prices could be increased by an average of around INR 2,000/mt ($27/mt) after a price increase during September. Since July, integrated steel mills have resorted to an aggregate per ton base price of around INR 7,000/mt ($95/mt).
