Indian Steel Mills Hike Flat Steel Prices for November

SteelMint in conversation with industry participants learned that few major Indian mills have announced hike in flat steel prices by INR 500-750/MT for Nov deliveries and other mills are also planning to follow the suit.Price hike announcement is expected to be out within a couple of days.

After hike, indicative price of a major manufacturer was learned to be around INR 35,500/MT (ex-Mumbai) for HRC (2.5-8mm,IS2062) and CRC prices ( 0.9 IS513 Gr O) is around INR 39,750-40,500/MT (ex-Mumbai). Price mentioned above are basic and extra GST @18% is applicable.

Considering prices to have already bottomed out, lowered output in Q2 FY20 and lower HRC imports are few reasons behind hike in offers, stated trade sources.

Further other trade sources shared that slight improvement in demand is expected post Diwali holidays. However other market participants are still skeptical about absorption of price hike in domestic market.

In line with this, major Indian steel mills have marginally increased HRC exports offers by USD 5- 10/MT and are offering at USD 420-430/MT CFR Vietnam for Nov end Dec shipments.