India’s flat steel import activity has hit a lull during the past week with trades for ex-Japan and ex-South Korea hot rolled coils seen at very low levels even as offer prices have remained unchanged, SteelOrbis was informed on Thursday, December 19.
End-users have limited restocking of feedstock as most of them had already completed purchases in the current calendar year.
Sources said that prices for ex-South Korea hot rolled coil (HRC) have been maintained at $485-495/mt CFR Mumbai. Only one deal was reported in the market during the past week by a western India-based re-roller for late February delivery at $486/mt CFR Mumbai. Ex-Japan HRC offers were also maintained at around $495-500/mt CFR, but no transactions were reported in the market during the past week.
The sources said that slightly higher import activity was reported for ex-China HRC even though offers have increased marginally to around $465-470/mt CFR compared to the range of $458-463/mt CFR in the previous week. The sources said that at least two southern India based re-rolling mills concluded an aggregate transactions of around 15,000 mt for ex-China HRC during the past week at $465-469/mt CFR for early February deliveries.
