Total cold rolled coils (CRC) exports from India in Jan-Apr ’21 stood at 0.22 million tonnes (mn t) over 0.13 mn t seen in the same four months in CY ’20, a rise of over 69% year-on-year (y-o-y).
In Apr ’21, y-o-y, exports of the same trebled to 0.08 mn t, against 0.02 mn t in Apr ’20.
Month-on-month, CRC exports dropped around 11% from 0.09 mn t in Mar ’21.
Chunk goes to Europe
Almost 86% of the exports in Jan-Apr ’21 went to Europe, comprising 0.19 mn t in the total 0.22 mn t corpus, up 137% over 0.08 mn t seen in Jan-Apr ’20 (to Europe).
In the current calendar, the highest volumes have been consistently going to Belgium at 0.01 mn t each in Jan and Feb ’21, followed by 0.03 mn t in Mar ’21 and 0.05 mn t in April.
There have been no CRC exports to China since Sept ’20 till Apr ’21.
The user industries of CRCs are automotive, pipes and tubes, consumer durables, construction and infrastructure, amongst others.
Reasons for rise in CRC exports
- EU demand rising: Demand in the European Union (EU) for automobiles rose as governments that earlier encouraged public transport urged use of personal vehicles. Post-lockdown, spending in consumer durables and other consuming sectors recovered quickly.
- Higher realisations from the EU: Indian steel mills were attracted to exports since the middle of last calendar since the export prices were higher than domestic. Indian mills last raised their CRC export offers to Europe in the second week of May ’21 to $1,400-1,420/tonne CFR Antwerp. Current domestic CRC prices are ranging from INR 85,000-88,000/t. Even after the recent hike in domestic prices, these are lower compared to the Europe-exported prices by more than say $200/t at the upper end.
- Dull domestic demand: In May ’21, mills were driven to conduct several export deals to offset the dull demand scenario at home due to the Covid-induced lockdown.
Recent deals
A slew of deals last month only pointed to heightened export interest from India’s steel mills. Last month, a mill booked 10,000 t of CRCs, destination Europe, at $1,400-1,410/t – a price increase of $30/t since the last consignment booked. In end-Apr ’21, mills had booked around 30,000 t of CRCs for Jun ’21 shipments at $1,375-1,380/t CFR.
Earlier, in Apr ’21, the mills had booked around 50,000 t of CRCs for Europe at $1,330-1,350/t for May-end shipments.
Short-term outlook
July shipments, however, could take a hit, since exporters are challenged by vessel availability issues. No foreign vessel wants to touch Indian shores yet because of the Covid surge.
There is no clarity yet on when exports will pick up. It could be 15 days to a month before exporters can arrange for a vessel, it seems.
~Madhumita Mookerji
Leave a Reply