Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained at their three-year low at INR 34,250/mt ($483/mt) ex-works during the past week amid inactive market conditions owing to festival holidays and buyers staying away for end-of-month considerations, SteelOrbis has learned.
According to traders, the effective price for local HRC is still lower considering that most steel mills as well as market intermediaries are continuing to offer across-the-board discounts in the range of $15-20/mt in their attempt to push volumes in the market.
“Business activity remained closed in several regional markets owing to the Diwali festival holidays. End-users already suffering from demand depression have preferred to wait for local steel mills to announce November base prices before deciding on their restocking, causing the market to remain in the doldrums and prices to remain at a three-year low,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“The market expects local steel mills to lower base prices considering rising mill-level inventories. But this is still not certain as input costs have come down but not as much as expected by local steel mills, and at best base price adjustments will be nominal and not enough to trigger fresh buying,” the trader added.
Market sources said that local HRC prices have lost 16 percent since the start of the current fiscal on April 1, 2019 and still face considerable downside risks.
$1 = INR 70.91
