Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have recorded marginal gains amid thin trading conditions and with end-users and trade channels maintaining minimal bookings, keeping a close watch for mills’ December price announcements, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, December 4.
Sources said that HRC trade prices have inched up INR 100/mt ($1.20/mt) to INR 58,100/mt ($697/mt) ex-Mumbai and are similarly up INR 100/mt ($1.20/mt) to INR 58,750/mt ($705/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Market participants have been in a cautious mood amid uncertainty over mills’ base prices for the current month. While a section of the market held that rising input costs would prompt producers to increase current month base prices, others are expecting a conservative approach from mills in view of the market now being in a bearish zone.
The anticipated base price increases of market participants extend across a wide range of INR 1,000/mt ($12/mt) on the lower side and INR 2,500/mt ($30/mt) at the highest level, the sources said.
“We expect prices to remain range-bound in the immediate term as there is not much positivity on the demand side. Industrials, particularly in the medium and small-scale sectors, are very cautious on raw material inventories and there is general tendency to conserve cash,” a Mumbai-based distributor said.
“State-level elections are over but the country is heading for national elections next year and politics can be expected to weigh in on market sentiments going forward into the New Year,” he said.
$1 = INR 83.30
