Cold rolled steel prices were increased by INR 500-700/MT this month. Traders across India are facing a shortage of Cold rolled products as its demand is said to have improved within past few weeks. The price hike of INR 500/MT was confirmed from dealers & traders based in Chennai.
The price hike was confined to Cold rolled products with thickness less than 1 mm. CR coils of this thickness are in short supply across many trading regions in South markets. A trader based in Chennai said, “The actual impact of this hike is INR 700/MT in the trading price of Cold rolled products with thickness less than 1mm”.
As per an MoU holder based in Chennai, Cold rolled coils of thickness 0.30 mm, 0.35 mm, 0.40 mm & 0.45 mm are in short supply at present. CRC products of these thicknesses are mainly used in the furniture manufacturing industry. Currently, the prices of these products are in the range of INR 56,000-57,000/MT. However, CR Coils of thickness 0.9 mm and above are trading at around INR 50,000-50,500/MT.
An importer based in Chennai who deals in imported Cold rolled, galvanized and color coated products commented,
“We are expecting four containers from Japan in and around 20 Aug, 2014. We haven’t settled the prices till now; the estimated offered prices for CR products are at around USD 640/MT CFR Chennai. It has been difficult to service the needs of our customers with domestic products. We are thus relying on imports.”
Freight Impact
Freight hike announced by the railways has led to an impact of INR 250/MT for Flat steel products, said a Flat steel dealer based in Chennai.
He further added, “Currently there is an acute shortage of products mainly for Cold rolled products as we are only receiving 2-3 rakes now, which are quite lower as compared to previous months.”
*Note: All domestic prices are inclusive of excise duty & taxes extra
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