Following the continued decline seen in the local billet market in India, some private mills have been showing a little more interest in the export market.
A few small sales have been rumored over the past week at around $490/mt FOB. And though this is down from most large mills’ targets at $510-520/mt FOB during past weeks, the resumption of negotiations has been assessed as a rather positive sign.
The sources said that Indian mills over the past several weeks had resisted price adjustments to push exports, given their strong local sales, but the domestic market dynamics have been reversed and, with more bearish conditions emerging, mills are once against seeking a footprint overseas.
According to sources, while success in sales have been sparse, one private mill returned to exports concluding a trade for 15,000 mt with a Singapore-based trader for onward sale at $488/mt FOB.
Another private mill is heard to have concluded a trade for 10,000 mt with an undisclosed buyer at $490/mt FOB, the sources said.
“The trade volumes are small. The significance though is that it has broken the prolonged silence in the export front. Is this a reversal of the trend? We don’t know. What we do know is that, even though the acceptable price is improving slightly, for the sellers it will remain under strain,” a source at the Indian mill said.
“Our general assessment is that, with the local market coming under pressure, there will be more mills looking at exports compared to last month,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the downtrend in the local billet market has persisted with trade prices moving down INR 800/mt ($10/mt) to INR 43,900/mt ($528/mt) ex-Mumbai and down INR 400/mt ($5/mt) to INR 41,850/mt ($503/mt ) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 83.20