Posted on 28 Oct 2021
Indian mills have increased their export offers for hot-rolled coil on the back of marginally increased ASEAN region demand and freight price correction in the spot market. However, domestic offers for hot-rolled coil have plunged due to a fall in demand across the downstream steel segment.
Indian-origin 2mm+ SAE grade HRC mill offers to Vietnam are noted at $920/tonne cfr Ho Chi Minh City. Buyers are heard raising their bids by $20-25/t on-week to $900-905/t. Kallanish heard a deal that took place for HRC SAE grade 2mm+ at $880-885/t cfr Vietnam last week.
Indian mills are offering 2mm+ SAE grade HRC at $865-875/t fob Indian east coast, and freight to Vietnam in the spot market is noted at $45-50/t.
“The global market is recovering and Vietnamese buyers are heard increasing their bids to $905/t level. The Covid situation in Russia and increased logistics costs have provoked the buyers to shift their preference to Indian sellers now,” says a senior trader active in the ASEAN region.
Offers to the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries increased further by $10-15/t on-week to $925-930/t cfr Jebel Ali for December shipments. However, no deal has been heard taking place this week. Indian mills are offering 2mm+ SAE grade HRC at $865-870/t fob Indian west coast and spot freight to UAE dropped to $50-55/t.
“Although the mills have raised their offers mainly because of cost-push, the UAE buyers prefer to stay in wait-and-watch mode. Buying has come down due to month-end and Indian festive seasons, we anticipate trade to increase after the festivals,” says a senior trader based in UAE.
Offers to the European countries are heard at $980-990/t for January deliveries. Although, buyers in Europe expect the offers to come down in November.
Indian domestic HRC offers plunged by INR 1,000/t ($13.32/t) to INR 68,000-69,000/t ex-works.
“Offers were high mainly on the account of restocking done by the domestic traders but we don’t see much demand in the market. Semis have fallen too and we expect a further correction in the domestic market,” says a senior trader deals in the domestic market.
Source:Kallanish
