Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have continued to face pressure, edging down by INR 200/mt ($3/mt) during the past week to around INR 33,200/mt ($510/mt) ex-works, amid sharp declines seen in import offer prices and the revival of import transaction activity, traders said on Monday, November 2.
“Import HRC offers have indicated sharp declines in the last few months. The reductions in prices have offset the safeguard duty on imports to a large extent and several deals for late November shipment have been reported in the market, putting fresh pressures on local HRC prices,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
Market sources said that ex-China HRC offers for late November shipment have declined by $15-20/mt to around $285/mt CFR Mumbai, further increasing the difference with local prices.
Ex-South Korea HRC offers, which had remained stable early last month, have also dipped over the past week by around $10/mt to the range of around $310-320/mt CFR Mumbai, the sources said.
With the market discounting any possibility of local steel mills adjusting their HRC base prices, Indian buyers have shifted their focus to imports instead of local products, according to market sources.
The sources said that, with Chinese domestic HRC prices falling sharply amid slackening local demand, in order to keep pushing volumes into the Indian market Chinese traders have reduced their import offers steadily ever since the Indian government imposed a 20 percent safeguard duty on imports in September.