Ex-India hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have remained relatively stable but only small-volume trades have been successful at the lower end of the price range. Besides, trade conditions remain rather tough in the main trade destinations given tighter competition with Chinese HRC suppliers in the Middle East and trade investigations in the EU.
Sources said that ex-India HRC prices are unchanged at $520-545/mt FOB but ony limited-volume trades have been reported at the lower end of the range. According to sources, last week a deal for around 20,000 mt of ex-India HRC was done at $560 CFR Saudi Arabia, while this week most Indian offers have been voiced at $555-560/mt CFR UAE, though most buyers’ bids have been heard at below $550/mt CFR due to tighter competition with Chinese suppliers, whose offers have been at least $20/mt lower.
In the meantime, most ex-India HRC offers have been heard at $595/mt CFR Europe, mainly the same as last week. However, talk about deals for ex-India HRC at lower levels has been circulating in the market this week. In particular, sources said that an eastern India-based mill reported a deal for 3,000 mt at $590/mt CFR Antwerp, while a second mill is heard to have booked 5,000 mt for delivery to Italy at $580/mt CFR, the sources said, though neither of the deals has been officially confirmed by the time of publication. “These deals are possible, but we are hearing provisional measures are likely to be announced in March, so any customs entries from January 1 are likely to be subject to retrospective dumping duty. I wouldn’t take that risk,” a European trader told SteelOrbis.
According to market insiders, even though only around 3-4 percent of the EU safeguard quota for October-December has been utilised by imports from India, distributors in the region have been wary of concluding ex-India deals owing to the combination of antidumping investigations, lower local prices and persistent weak demand.
“On the export front, there is only small evidence of activity from Europe, despite tariff uncertainties, while activity in the Middle East is in the doldrums owing to weak demand and sufficient stocks at distributors,” a source at Tata Steel Limited said.