SteelMint: Indian HRC export index up by $20/t w-o-w on active deals

• Mills raised HRC export offers late last week by $10-15/t for Mar’22 shipments
• Mills hold back offers for Nepal and Vietnam after an increase in quotes
• Deals reported at elevated price levels for EU, Turkey & Middle East

Indian mills further increased their HRC export offers by $10-15/tonne (t) towards the end of last week after a significant hike in the preceding week. Decent export bookings were reported in the past seven days at higher price ranges. SteelMint’s India HRC (SAE1006) export index rose to $800/t FOB east coast, up by $20/t w-o-w.

Rationale: Ten indicative prices were considered as T2 inputs, while an export deal of 15,000 t at $840/t CFR UAE was considered as T1. The final price was an average of T1 and T2 inputs which stood at $800/t FOB. The CFR prices were converted to FOB equivalent by deducting freight costs from the buyer/seller.

Region-wise market update:

• Turkey books imported HRCs at increased prices: Around 20,000 t HRCs were booked for Turkey at $850/t CFR for Mar’22 shipments. Another 20,000 t of HRCs for Turkey were heard booked at $870-890/t CFR levels for early Mar’22 delivery.
• Europe: Deals were also heard for Europe in the range of $900-910/t CFR for March shipments, but the quantity could not be confirmed till the time of publishing the article.
• Middle East: Offer levels were heard at $840-850/t CFR for the UAE market. Last week, these were at $815-825/t CFR. A deal for 10,000-15,000 t of HRCs was heard at $840/t, CFR.
• Tet, Lunar holidays weigh on demand in Vietnam: The market in Vietnam has gone mute with the holiday mood setting in. The market will remain inactive throughout the week from 1-7 Feb’22 because of the Tet holidays. Indian mills withdrew offers after quoting $825-830/t towards the end of the previous week.
• Limited appetite for imported HRC in Nepal: The Nepal-based importers have switched to a wait-and-watch mode after having booked decent quantities earlier this month. Meanwhile, most of the mills are well booked till Feb’22. Offers were elevated to $870-880/t CFR Raxual border towards the end of the previous week.