Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have showed slight gains with trader channels quoting higher prices in a market lacking direction and amid mixed signals of base price changes for August, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, July 24.
Sources said that HRC trade prices are up INR 300/mt ($4/mt) to INR 55,600/mt ($677/mt) ex-Mumbai and are up INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 54,300/mt ($661/mt) ex-Chennai in the south. However, despite the marginal gains at the trade level, the market has continued to remain bogged down by rising imports and low demand from user industries and “the outlook has remained fuzzy” from conflicting signals of imminent base price revisions.
According to the sources, while some private mills increased base prices during the current month, government mills kept prices changes and hence going forward it is unclear how producers will make a call on prices for August deliveries.
At the same time, trade circles estimate that import bookings during the current month totaled around 50,000-75,000 mt, with at least half accounted for by ex-China contracts, sustaining the trend of a 7.6 percent rise in inward shipments in June and this will continue to keep domestic prices under pressure.
“The market is waiting for some clarity on prices of mills. The gains seen over the past few days are largely at the trade level, while bookings by industrials remain at very low level. Hence, any base price increase by producers will be at the risk of a further fall in trade volumes,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“The main issue is pressure from imports. Ex-China offers are currently in the range of $580-600/mt CFR and bookings continue to remain strong. Whether ex-China offers harden or not will determine the short-term local price movement,” he added.
$1 = INR 82.20
