Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have continued to slide under the combined pressures of low industrial demand, rising competition from cheaper imports, and the fall in trade bookings as the market awaits June pricing signals from mills, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, May 29.
Sources said that HRC trade prices are down INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 56,800/mt ($686/mt) ex-Mumbai and have also declined by INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 55,300/mt ($668/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Meanwhile, a few July shipment import bookings have been heard in the market as ex-China discounts were seen to be increasing.
According to trade circles, the landed price of ex-China HRC for July shipment has been heard at around $575-580/mt (INR 47,610-48,024/mt), versus $590-600/mt (INR 48,852-49,680/mt) for June shipment reported a week ago, and indicating a further widening of the differential between import and domestic trade prices.
“Trade channels are not active in fresh bookings as June pricing signals are awaited from producers. Mills cannot ignore rising imports and its higher price competitiveness over domestic sourcing,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“Finished steel prices are in strong negative territory. The sellers are many and sales are being pushed aggressively. Indian mills cannot afford to remain de-coupled from global trends. Their pricing will also need to reflect reality, higher import competition being the new reality,” he said.
According to two other market participants, it is expected that integrated mills will need to lower June base prices by at least INR 1,000/mt ($12/mt) to support sagging trade conditions.
$1= INR 82.80