Local India hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have lost ground in the past week amid low trading activity and weak demand, with actual booking prices showing a wide range at lower levels, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, November 18.
Sources said that trade HRC prices are down by INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to a range of INR 49,200/mt ($583/mt) and INR 50,100/mt ($594/mt) ex-Mumbai, and have also declined by INR 500/mt ($6) to INR 51,000/mt ($604/mt) ex-Chennai in the south. Furthermore, even lower prices have also been reported in the market at around INR 48,000/mt ($567/mt) during the past few days.
According to market insiders, continued large-volume imports have imposed sustained pressure on prices, prompting dealers to be extremely cautious as regards concluding new bookings and increasing their inventories.
“Nothing is being heard from the government on the imposition of antidumping (AD) duty on imports, and any delay on this front is leading to pessimism in the market. The secretary to the ministry of steel has been quoted as saying that the government is considering ‘different measures’ to check steel imports. But unless there is clarity on what these different measures are, the market will continue to lack confidence,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“With continued import pressure and demand too remaining sluggish, we see a further downward risk of around INR 1,000/mt ($12/mt) in the short term,” he added
$1 = INR 84.40
