Local Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) trade prices have continued to move down, amid discounted sales of very small tonnages in distribution channels and the deepening of the negative outlook due to import pressures, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Monday, July 29.
Sources said that HRC trade price levels have declined by INR 600/mt ($7/mt) to INR 51,600/mt ($616/mt) ex-Mumbai and are down INR 500/mt ($6/mt) to INR 52,500/mt ($627/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
The sources said that there has been great nervousness amid reports of surging import bookings and total import arrivals at Indian ports by the end of the current month are estimated to be as high as 350,000 mt going by trade estimates and this will compound pressures on the local market.
“Local mills are in a triple bind of the almost complete halt in exports, the only very small volume of bookings in the domestic market, compounded by the large arrivals of imports,” a Mumbai-based distributor told SteelOrbis.
“Even buyers of very small volumes are bargaining aggressively for discounts or are pulling out of the market. Distributors carrying large inventories are forced to accede to discount demands to keep being able to push stocks,” he added.
“There is no level playing field in the domestic steel market. The global steel market is very weak, and many countries are raising tariff barriers. Chinese steel is surging into India, affecting margins of local mills. The government needs to raise barriers to steel imports to ensure a level playing field,” an official at JSW Steel Limited said.
$1 = INR 83.70