Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have largely remained unchanged, but with wide variations across geographies, while actual trade has remained mainly muted as sentiments among most buyers have become bearish especially given that the EU market is falling silent. However, more deals have still been reported in the Middle East given the better demand in the region coupled with less competition with Chinese sellers amid the Chinese New Year holiday, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, February 14.
Offers for ex-India HRC have been voiced at $580-650/mt FOB, versus $585-680/mt FOB last week. More specifically, sources said that local mills are heard to be quoting in the range of $580-595/mt FOB for Asian markets, with no trade activity reported amid the holidays in the region. According to sources, only an eastern India-based mill reported a trade for delivery to Singapore of 15,000 mt at $590/mt FOB, though no confirmation has been provided by the time of publication.
Meanwhile, offers for ex-India HRC in the Middle East have been voiced at $635-640/mt CFR, which translates to around $605-610/mt FOB, while deal prices have been estimated at $600-605/mt FOB level. Specifically, according to sources, around 70,000 mt in total of ex-India materials were sold to the Middle East at $630-635/mt CFR for March-April shipment at the end of last week and beginning of this week. ¨Two batches were booked in the UAE and one in Saudi Arabia,¨ an international trader based in Dubai told SteelOrbis. Furthermore, the sources said that a western India-based mill concluded a trade for 20,000 mt for delivery to Qatar delivery at $600/mt FOB, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Meanwhile, sentiment has been worsening in the EU given the recent drop in local HRC prices in the region amid slow demand, and so most offers for ex-India HRC to Europe have settled at $645-650/mt FOB, against $670-680/mt FOB last week.
“There is no discernible indicative ex-India price as sellers are adopting wide variations in offers and bids are also varying widely although on the lower side, with some bids being acceptable, others not. Europe has generally fallen quiet with distributors having completed restocking and buyers resisting the higher prices of EU mills and having contagious dampening mood on exports,” a source at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited told SteelOrbis.
“With China remaining out of most markets, it is difficult to say how the current trend will move going forward. Even in the midst of uncertainty, we expect the Middle East to provide some support at least in booking volumes, although sellers would continue to face pricing challenges,” another source said.