Chinese Buying Keeps Indian HRC Export Market Active

Indian HRC export market has regained momentum after holidays in China and Vietnam. Indian steel mills have collectively booked around 2,00,000-2,25,000 MT of HRC to China and Vietnam recently, SteelMint learned from its credible sources. The deals have been concluded at around USD 388-390/MT CFR basis for HRC (SAE 1006 and SS400 grade) with shipments scheduled in June end - early July.

Further, sources shared that Russian steelmakers mainly Severstal and MMK are negotiating with Chinese mills for HRC export deal at around USD 390/MT CFR basis. However, the confirmation regarding the same is still awaited.

Prior to this in Apr'20, Chinese steel mills booked around 30,000 MT of HRC from South Korean mill and around 40,000 MT of HRC from India at around USD 395-400/MT CFR basis.

Thus, Chinese steel mills have increased their appetite for imports and are aggressively booking HRC and billets from India, Russia, and South Korea.

On the other side, currently Chinese domestic HRC prices are hovering at RMB 3,340-3,380/MT ( inclusive of VAT in eastern China), up by RMB 20-40/MT D-o-D.