Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained stable during the past week at around INR 37,000/mt ($584/mt) ex-works amid nearly dormant market conditions, traders said on Tuesday, December 23.
"Most market indicators are negative and buyers are unwilling to make any new bookings," a Mumbai-based trader said.
"Manufacturing sector growth is sluggish and domestic HRC prices are holding firm despite low demand even as international prices are moving down leading to low transaction volumes in the local markets," he added.
At the same time, market sources said that Chinese HRC offers to India are in the range of around $480-485/mt CFR Mumbai but hardly any transactions are reported in the market since buyers and sellers could not agree on volume discounts.
Sources said that, besides year-end considerations, local dealers and actual users prefer to remain on the sidelines, waiting for New Year signals from steel mills on whether they will adjust their HRC prices factoring in the persistent sluggish demand situation.
$1 = INR 63.32