- Indian offers drop by $15/t to $515/t
- Chinese offers rise $5/t to $500-515/t
The Middle Eastern hot-rolled coil (HRC) market saw a mixed price environment this week. Indian offers experienced a sharp decline, while Chinese ones rose. Demand within the region improved modestly, driven by recent transactions coinciding with the start of Ramadan. This represents a recovery from the subdued market conditions prevalent before the start of the holy month.
Indian HRC export offers to the Middle East dropped by $15/tonne (t) w-o-w to $515/t CFR UAE as compared to $530/t CFR UAE a week ago, amid recent deals. Two deals – one for around 5,000 t for April 2025 sales and another for approximately 10,000 t – were heard concluded at similar prices.
Chinese HRC export offers to the Middle East increased by $5/t w-o-w to $500-515/t CFR UAE as compared to $495/t CFR UAE last week. Meanwhile, HRC futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) decreased by RMB 30/t ($4/t) d-o-d to RMB 3,395/t ($467/t) from RMB 3,425/t ($472/t) a day ago. However, on a w-o-w basis, the same remained range bound.
Japanese HRC offers to the Middle East stood at $510/t CFR UAE amid a recent deal for around 23,000 t for April 2025 sales. Japan’s steel exports in January 2025 touched 2.27 million tonnes (mnt), down by 11% m-o-m from 2.56 mnt in December 2024. Moreover, export volumes decreased by 4% as compared to 2.37 mnt in January 2024.
Outlook
The Middle East HRC market is expected to remain range-bound in the short term, supported by increased trade activities from India and Japan. However, market participants may remain cautious due to ongoing global trade restrictions and sufficient inventory levels in the Middle East market.
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