Imported Slab Offers to India Fall; Buyers Resist

Slab offers to India have fallen owing to anticipated imposition of Minimum Import Price (MIP) and falling plates prices.

Imported slab offers to India from Iran and Brazil have corrected by USD 10-15/MT against last month. Current offers for slabs from Iran are assessed at USD 230-235/MT and from Brazil at USD 235-240/MT, CNF India basis. No fresh offers are being heard from Indonesia.

As heard from market sources, there is no major buying interest in Indian market for imported offers owing to anticipation of Minimum Import Price (MIP) on steel imports and falling plates prices.

In order to curb cheap imports, government is likely to set the floor price below which imports would not be allowed in to the country. Thus Indian importers have restricted their overseas buying till final announcement on the same is out.

Also plate prices in domestic and international market have been falling since last one year. This is majorly owing to subdued demand in the market.

Plates are majorly used in ship building, however because of muted demand in steel industry there has been significant reduction in vessel movements in last one year. With no major demand for new vessels, demand for plates have also reduced drastically thus affecting its prices.

Slab Prices as on 21 Dec’15

Source: SteelMint Research