Posted on 27 Jan 2022
Owing to a cost push from soaring coking coal prices, Indian mills have raised their hot rolled coil offers by a further $35-40/tonne on-week to $770-780/t fob India for March shipments. They are said to be in a strong position to conclude export deals, various sources inform Kallanish.
“Mills are now aiming to offer at $770-780/t fob India, but it cannot be predicted for how long they will be able to sustain these numbers,” informs a senior trader from a reputed trading firm.
Domestic retail offers for E250 grade HRC also surged to INR 65,000/t ($868) ex-Mumbai, up by INR 1,000/t on-week. Offers for E350 are noted at INR 68,000/t ex-Mumbai.
Mills are indicating at $810-815/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) this week; however, no firm bids are yet to be heard from Vietnamese buyers. One Indian mill offered HRC at $820/t cfr HCMC on Monday.
“From 25 December to 18-19 January, Indian mills were very competitive and active in the Vietnam region, and a majority of bookings were done during this period. Now, mills have withdrawn all of their old offers and aim to conclude deals with new numbers after the Lunar New Year holidays,” says a trader active in Vietnam.
In line with surging offers in Southeast Asia, mills have also raised offers to United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries. Indian-origin 2mm+ SAE 1006 grade March-delivery HRC offers have surged to $800-810/t cfr Jebel Ali, while offers to Egypt are noted at $840-850/t cfr Egypt. Indian mills are heard negotiating a SAE 1006 HRC deal at $810/t cfr Jebel Ali this week. A few deals of pipemaking grade HRC were also concluded this week at $810/t cfr Jebel Ali.
“Mills are trying to create a quasi-sentiment in the GCC market,” says a trader based in UAE. “To adjust for the raw material price hikes, they are pushing up offers to improve bids for closing deals.”
Offers to Europe are up by $10-30/t on-week, noted at $890-900/t cfr Italy and $910-915/t cfr Antwerp and Spain. Some deals each of 1,000-1,500 tonnes were heard concluded at $900/t cfr Antwerp. Offers to Turkey have meanwhile surged to $820-825/t cfr Turkey, against buyers’ bids at $810-815/t. A major Indian mill concluded a deal for SAE 1006 at $810/t cfr Turkey last week.
Source:Kallanish
