The downtrend in the local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) market has taken a pause during the past week with prices remaining at INR 41,800/mt ($600/mt) ex-works with market intermediaries awaiting pricing signals from domestic steel mills, traders said on Monday, April 8.
“The market sentiments continue to be characterized by a negative bias, reflecting the slowdown in manufacturing sector growth in March, which was the lowest in the past six months,” a Mumbai-based trader said.
“The market is expecting local steel mills to adjust their base prices, responding to the slowdown and falls in trading activity in the market and reports of higher inventories at steel mills. However, even after a week of the current month, there has been no pricing signal from local steel mills, contributing to the uncertain mood in the market,” the trader added.
However, according to some traders, certain medium-sized steel mills have increased their base prices marginally by INR 500/mt for April deliveries, but the traders are not sure whether this is an exception among medium-sized producers or whether other steel mills will defy market expectations and follow suit.
Some market sources said that a large number of traders is also staying away from making fresh bookings as the Indian national elections are to be held on April 11 in several parts of the country and thereafter logistics and transportation could become issues for market participants to deliver supplies to end-users.
$1 = INR 69.64