Indian HR-plate prices soften; mills foresee demand recovery

Indian domestic HR plate prices in trade markets softened on tepid demand and limited trade activities. SteelMint's benchmark assessment for HR-plates (base grade IS 2062, 5-10mm) stood at INR 42,000-42,250/t exy-Mumbai, down by INR 200-300/t against the previous week.

"Sales in the trade market continued to remain slow. Customers feel the possibility of prices softening in Nov/Dec. Also, market sources are of opinion that price may fall unless demand from big projects pick-up momentum."

Meanwhile, trade sources highlighted a govt. owned mill to be offering discounts of INR 500/t for old stocks. However, private mills continue to maintain the initially announced offers.

On the other hand, mills anticipate a recovery in plate demand due to following reasons -

1. Recovery in the manufacturing and construction sector- Optimism is gradually returning in the Indian manufacturing sector, "Customers are grabbing these opportunities. It's still early days but as investments into infrastructure continue and the festival season sets in, we expect the momentum to pick-up", according to a recent officials report on media from JCB India. Infrastructure projects are restarting, resulting in positive sentiment in the construction equipment industry.
   
   
2. Boost to the shipbuilding industry in India- As a major boost to shipbuilding in India, the government has amended existing norms recently, and now the first priority in chartering of vessels will be given to ships built and flagged in India as well as owned by Indians.
   "To boost shipbuilding activities in India, the Ministry of Shipping has amended the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) licensing conditions. Now, it has been decided that for any kind of charter of a vessel undertaken through a tender process, the first priority for RoF would be given to Indian built, Indian flagged and Indian owned vessels," shipping Minister Mandaviya said.
   
   

Indian traders book imported plates from Indonesia- Indian traders resume plate imports and have booked around 10,000-15,000 t high tensile plates (E350) at $545-550/t CFR west coast. After including bank interest on LC for 180 days of around $13-15/t, the prices are coming above antidumping levels at $561/t CFR basis.

Outlook- Market sources believe that demand will pick up on increased inquiries from construction, infrastructure, and pre-engineered sectors. Demand in the oil and gas sector will pick up from December. Meanwhile, with the commencement of the festive season the yellow and white goods sector, wind segment, water pipelines, and fabricator industry is expected to remain active.