Ex-India pellet prices have continued to seek lower levels in the absence of buyers from China and sellers have not been submitting offers either as local sales realizations have been better, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Friday, August 11.
Ex-India pellet prices are down by around $3/mt to $105-108/mt CFR China, while local prices have ranged at INR 6,700/mt ($81/mt) ex-plant Odisha.
Sources said uncertainty over steel mills’ production and finished steel prices in China have been keeping raw material demand muted and Chinese mills were preferring to source from port pellet inventories estimated at around 5.5 million mt last week.
“Extreme weather conditions have been taking a toll on construction steel in China and producers’ margins are also under strains of rising costs. The deflationary pressures at the macroeconomic levels have also been leading to a bearish outlook on raw material demand,” a member of the Pellet Manufacturers’ Association of India (PMAI) said.
“The narrowing of the gap between local ex-plant prices and export prices was not sufficient for sellers to push for deals. Local demand has also been strong, resulting in no deals reported over the past week,” he said.