Local India hot rolled coil (HRC) traded prices have recorded slight gains amid the pick-up in trade activities and, with market intermediaries coming out to restock and with mills maintaining base prices, discounts on trade prices have narrowed marginally, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, January 10.
The traded HRC price is up INR 500/mt ($7/mt) to INR 63,600/mt ($854/mt) ex-Mumbai, while a rise of INR 750/mt ($10/mt) has been heard in the southern regional market taking the traded price to INR 63,250/mt ($850/mt) ex-warehouse.
Domestic mills over the past week have announced a rollover of prices for current month deliveries maintaining them at INR 67,000-68,500/mt ($902-919/mt) ex-works, claiming that the market had bottomed out and that trade price discounts would start to narrow going forward.
“Sentiments are picking up slowly. Distributors are making bookings to restock. But it might be noted that HRC prices have moved down INR 3,000/mt [$40/mt] since early December and hence there is still a long way to go for a full recovery,” a Mumbai-based steel distributor said.
“Demand from end-users is still low. The third wave of the pandemic is yet to peak and several parts of the country are going into restrictions and this will offer a strong headwind to any fast pace of recovery,” he said.
According to a steel sector analyst with a Mumbai-based financial advisory firm, prices still have a downside risk of 5-8 percent in January as all major integrated steel mills have been reporting a decline in sales and a rise in production, indicating that inventory pressures will aggravate, impacting price levels.
$1 = INR 74.40
