SteelMint: Indian HRC export index rises by $27 tracking global prices

SteelMint’s Indian HRC export index witnessed a significant increase this week by $27/t. Index for HRC (SAE 1006) FoB India stands at a $595/t FoB basis compared to $568/t FoB basis in the last week. Notably, the Indian HRC export index has hit over a two-years high according to the data maintained with SteelMint.

Indian steel mills are eyeing higher export offers following a hike made by major steel exporting nations this week. China, Japan, and South Korea have almost raised around $20-40/t this week on bullish market trends.

In addition to this, Indian mills have limited allocation for exports on robust sales and higher price realizations in the domestic market. Also, Indian steel mills are planning to hike domestic steel prices further in Dec’20 on a tight supply of iron ore and increased buying.

Four indicative prices were considered as T2 inputs, with an average price of $595/t. The final price was an average of T2 inputs due to the absence of confirmed trades (T1). The CFR prices were converted to FoB equivalent by deducting freight costs from the buyer/seller.

Global HRC market overview –

• Chinese HRC export offers up further on strengthening futures-The Chinese mills have further raised their offers by $20 w-o-w to offer at $565-570/t FoB China against a $545-550/t FoB basis. Strong futures led to higher domestic market realizations eventually translating to higher export offers.
• CIS origin HRC export offers rise over $25 on the week-Nation’s export offers surged by $25-30/t w-o-w to $545-560/t FoB Black Sea in contrast with $520-530/t FoB a week back. Export offers have shown a sharp increase from mid-Nov on the back of improved demand and lower inventory levels.
• Imported HRC offers to Pakistan unchanged, increase expected-The Chinese HRC offers for SS 400 continues to hover at $580-585/t CFR Pakistan and SAE 1006 at $590/t CFR basis, unchanged against the previous week. However, its expected that offers may increase in the coming days.
• Pakistan mill books 6,000 t HRC from Taiwan – A a major steel mill in Taiwan has concluded 6,000 t HRC deal to Pakistan at $600/t CFR basis for Jan’21 shipment.
• Imported HRC offers to Vietnam from China trails 2 years high- The Chinese mills raised their HRC offers to $590-600/t CFR Vietnam marking almost 2 years high compared to $590/t CFR basis towards the end of Sep ’18. However, the offers were up by $10-20/t w-o-was against a $580/t CFR basis a week back.