- Intensifying monsoons raise concerns around demand
- Easing supply tightness may add to pressure on prices
India’s coated flat steel prices weakened this week amid slowing demand with intensifying monsoons. Galvanised plain (GP) coil prices dropped by around INR 100-500/tonne (t) ($1-6/t) w-o-w across assessed markets. Pre-painted galvanised iron (PPGI) coil prices were range-bound in the benchmark market of Mumbai; however, the same declined by INR 700/t ($8/t) in Delhi.
Demand for colour-coated or PPGI coils, which has been decent over the last few weeks, has now started waning.
The latest weekly assessment, on 19 June, showed GP (0.8 mm/CTL, 120 gsm, IS277) coil prices at INR 64,700/t ($746/t) exy-Mumbai, down INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w, with offers varying in the range of INR 64,000-65,000/t ($738-749/t).
On the other hand, PPGI (0.5 mm/CTL, 90 gsm, IS14246) stood at INR 74,100/t ($854/t) exy-Mumbai, with offers at INR 73,500-74,500/t ($847-859/t). These prices exclude GST at 18% (USD 1 = INR 86.7723; INR 1 = USD 0.0115244).
Market updates
Sluggish demand weighs on prices: Trade-level coated flat steel prices had shown resilience over the previous 2-3 weeks of slow demand with lower declines. However, they dropped by a sharper degree this week.
“Demand for profiled cladding and roofing sheets is expected to be there in the market for the next 7-10 days. However, with the monsoons intensifying, it shall also wane off,” said a north-based distributor. “Considering the weak market sentiments over the last 4-5 weeks, it is expected that mills might stop resisting offering support as earlier,” he added.
Prices of substrate products such as hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) coils have also not declined steeply amid the import restrictions by way of the safeguard duty in place. This gave prices some stability and restrained steeper declines in the recent past. However, distributors are now concerned about this and are cautious about the coated flat price momentum and direction in the near term.
“Slow declines in substrate HRC and CRC prices have lent some support to the value-added variants lately. This has helped keep coated flat product prices stay range-bound or show nominal declines w-o-w, but now this is raising concerns – prices could show some steeper movements,” BigMint learnt from a west-based distributor.
Rising supply may weigh on prices: Supplies, though tight over the month, have done little to cushion prices over June. Meanwhile, distributors are also concerned about building up their inventories and are restraining them to the minimum inventory holding levels amid the monsoon-related seasonal challenges.
“Refractory maintenance at a major private mill’s blast furnace, which started in April 2025, is expected to be completed soon. This would ease the current supply tightness,” said a major distributor from the west.
Furthermore, a new cold-rolling mill (CRM) with an annual installed capacity of 1.5 million tonnes (mnt) has come online recently and shall add to market supplies.
Outlook
Prices of coated flat steel products are likely to stay under pressure in the near term amid the easing of supply-related concerns and subdued market demand. The intensification of monsoons will also add to the woes, as it is the seasonally weak period for steel sales. Players are scanning the market for any signs of which mills are mulling price support for June and are waiting for indications about the list prices for July 2025.
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