Following their stable movement in previous weeks, prices in the local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) market have increased by INR 3,500/mt ($51/mt) during the past week to INR 42,000/mt ($614/mt) ex-works, as domestic steel mills commenced price revisions for the current month, traders said on Monday, December 5.
“Belying expectations from a small section of the market that local steel mills would keep flat product prices stable given tight liquidity problems, several mill have announced price hikes during the past week,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Most dealers have been quick to pass on the higher prices to their customers even though this means a sharp downturn in transactions volumes in the market,” the trader said.
Market sources said that local mills like JSW Limited and government-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have announced base price increases for HRC of around INR 3,000/mt ($44/mt) - the highest single price revision over the past several years.
The sources said that other large HRC producers like Tata Steel and Jindal Steel & Power Limited are expected to announce similar price hikes over the course of the current week.
$1 = 68.23 INR