Ex-India hot rolled coil prices have continued to show wide variations across destinations, but with a different trend direction compared to those earlier in the month. However, as negative sentiments have mounted across geographies, some trades have been reported only from the Middle East region and Europe.
Ex-India HRC prices have been heard in the range of $600-650/mt FOB, compared to $580-650/mt FOB a week ago. According to sources, price at the lower end of the range are applicable for offers in the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam in particular, where one of the largest Indian mills has been offering its materials at $610-620/mt CFR this week, up by $10-20/mt week on week. “Prices are at this level in Vietnam and, frankly speaking, sellers are not very interested in boosting sales there given no interest from buyers,” an Indian trader said. However, while offers in Asia have been voiced at slightly higher levels, in the Middle East, on the contrary, most offers have decreased to $625-630/mt CFR levels, down by $10/mt week on week, while a few deals are reported to have been done at $630/mt CFR at the end of last week to the UAE. Furthermore, another large integrated Indian mill has reported two trades for 15,000 mt and 20,000 mt for delivery to the UAE and Qatar, with the average price ranging at $585-610/mt FOB, the sources said.
“Indian mills are trying hard to expand export orders to counter the demand-supply balance in the local market and domestic prices, but, if they do not get some reasonable quantity (at least 200,000 mt) between the two or three of them for March shipment, then we see a chance of the local market slipping below INR 52,000/mt,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, while offers for ex-India HRC in Europe are still voiced at $640-650/mt FOB, the same as last week, talk about a deal for 8,000 mt of HRC from a western India-based mill for delivery to Antwerp done at $630-635/mt FOB has been circulating in the market, compared to $645-650/mt FOB heard a week ago. However, this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Offers for ex-India SAE1006 HRC in Turkey have been heard at $655-660/mt CFR, mainly the same as two weeks ago, with no interest seen from the buyers’ side.
“The mood in most destinations is turning more negative with buyers deferring larger-volume deals, expecting further declines in prices once China is back in the market. Mills in Europe, we hear, are rolling back local prices and interest in imports is naturally very low,” a source at Tata Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“We expect the workable price to fall by around $30-50/mt on FOB basis, while the Middle East, where distributors are restocking moderately, will continue to offer modest support to ex-India trade, at least over the next few weeks,” another source said.