Indian domestic hot rolled coil prices have increased by at least Rs 1,500 ($32) per tonne in the market over the past two weeks despite thin sales.
Hot rolled coil is selling at around Rs 30,500 per tonne excluding taxes.
Mills are selling at about Rs 30,500-31,000 per tonne to traders while sales at Rs 29,500-30,500 per tonne are mainly from importers.
Meantime, customers were still not coming forward, said a Mumbai-based trader.
“The mood in the market is to keep away from any big purchases and until a clear trend has emerged,” he said, adding that buyers were still unsure if prices will continue to increase.
“Coils from domestic mills are slightly more expensive, but they are more reliable,” said a retailer.
Indian mills are not hard-selling any more; they seem to be very comfortable selling at higher prices, even though volumes are not large, he said.
Mills have rolled over prices for August for customers that are end users of hot rolled coil.
Weak demand has extended into India’s imports market.
The latest Chinese offers of $620-630 per tonne cfr for commercial-grade hot rolled coil attracted no bookings by traders or cold rollers, said market participants.
Bookings were last heard at $590-600 cfr two weeks ago.
Leave a Reply