Indian importers book 35,000-40,000 t of HRCs from Russia

• Russian offers undercut Chinese prices
• Russian mills hold BIS certifications

Indian hot rolled coil (HRC) importers booked 35,000-40,000 tonnes (t) of the material from Russia at $460-470/t CFR for June shipment, sources informed BigMint. It is to be noted that Russia has resumed exporting to India after a long gap, sending sizable volumes.

The offers from two major Russian steel producers of HRCs are under-cutting Chinese offers. This sale marks Russia’s re-entry into the Indian HRC market after a long gap.

Volumes to India downtrend

Russia is not a key player in India’s finished steel import market, which is dominated by China, South Korea and Japan. In calendar 2022 (CY’22), Russia sold 187,675 t of HRCs to India, but this dropped to 65,237 t in CY’23. However, offers were absent from CY’24 till April CY’25.

Russian mills hold BIS licences

The Russian mills in question, as per sources, have secured the required Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification to export steel to India. Additionally, major Russian producers such as Novolipetsk Steel and PAO Severstal currently hold operative BIS licenses for IS 2062 and IS 1079 grades.

Price comparison

The Russian HRCs were sold at a price lower than the recent Chinese base-grade material, at around $480-485/t CFR India, which may have been a key factor behind the purchase.

With customs duty and a 12% safeguard duty along with port handling and miscellaneous charges, the landed cost of Russian HRCs would be around Rs 50,500-51,000/t ($590-596/t).

Moreover, leading steel mills’ list prices of HRCs (2.5-8 mm, IS2062, Gr E250, Br.) were at INR 53,000-54,000/t ($620-631/t) ex-Mumbai. However, current trade-level HRC (2.5-8mm / CTL, IS2062, Gr E250 Br.) prices in India are trending below official mill list prices. On 13 May, these were at INR 51,900/t exy-Mumbai.

Outlook

Indian HRC prices are facing downward pressure amid weak demand, which usually worsens during the monsoon season starting in June. Moreover, cheaper imports may put pressure in the domestic market. “The market is likely to fall further in the near term,” a market participant informed BigMint.