India: Trade-level HRC, CRC prices edge up; volumes low

Trade-level hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) coil prices have edged up by INR 500/t ($6/t) in some markets under assessment this week. However, others continued to remain range-bound. Major mills announced an increase in list prices of HRCs and CRCs for the month of August by around INR 750-1,000/t ($9-12/t). This made distributors raise their quotes in the traders' market. However, buyers continued to procure on a need basis, keeping the trade volumes low.

SteelMint's benchmark assessment (bi-weekly) for HRC (IS2062, Gr E250, 2.5-8mm) edged up by INR 400/t ($5/t) to INR 56,000-57,000/t ($676-688/t) as against last week's levels. Similarly, CRC (IS513, Gr O, 0.9mm) prices also inched up by INR 400/t ($5/t) to INR 60,500-61,500/t ($731-743/t) in this period. (INR 1 = USD 0.0119804 ; USD 1 = INR 83.4695)

Market updates:

1. Market getting stable with demand opening up: The recent market trend is moving towards stability and some demand can be seen with buyers still following the hand-to-mouth buying pattern. There have been attempts to increase prices but the buyers are resisting which has led to partial absorption in the trade market.

2. Export offers on hold: SteelMint's India HRC (SAE1006) export index remained steady at $570-575/tonne (t) FOB east coast India. Indian mills are not offering HRC exports due to higher prices in the domestic market. Furthermore, major mills in India had taken maintenance shutdowns in late July, resulting in limited HRC allocations and no offers to the Middle East and the European Union markets. Additionally, the EU market is quiet due to summer holidays.

However, with recent deals of HRC exports to Nepal it is expected that HRC export prices for Nepal are going to increase.

3. Imports rise in July: The import deals have turned scarce post the bookings for August deliveries. Good volumes were booked as imports for the June to July delivery period amid the downtrend in prices on the global platforms since April. The import volumes of HRC and plates have been on a rise over the May to July period. The bulk HRC and plate import volumes reached 434,689 t in July 2023, as per the vessel line up data tracked by SteelMint. It was around 215,299 t in May 2023 and 287,703 t in June 2023.

However, since the landed cost of imports for the material arriving in August is close to the current domestic prices, these are likely to put the latter under pressure, opined sources.