India: HRC export offers decline w-o-w as EU buyers resist higher offers

• EU buyers remain cautious amid a persistent offer-bid gap
• Middle East and Vietnam offers remain on hold amid domestic focus

Indian HRC export offers varied w-o-w across key destinations during the assessment week ended 13 October 2026. EU-bound offers declined by around $10/t amid persistent buyer resistance to prevailing price levels, with no fresh bookings reported during the week. Meanwhile, offers to the Middle East and Vietnam remained on hold as mills continued to prioritise domestic sales amid better domestic realisations, limiting fresh export availability to these markets.

HRC export offers to the EU decline w-o-w: Indian HRC export offers to the European Union (EU) declined by around $10/t w-o-w to $660/t FOB, compared with $670/t in the previous week. Buyers remained reluctant to book material at prevailing levels, as the gap between their price expectations and sellers’ asking levels continued to weigh on fresh bookings. As a result, no new bookings were reported during the assessment period.

Uncertainty over available quota volumes further weighed on purchasing activity, with buyers assessing quota utilisation before committing to new bookings. A major Indian steel exporter expected buying activity to improve in the coming week for December-produced material as buyers look to secure volumes ahead of the Q1 CY’27 quota booking period, before the available allocation is exhausted.

HRC export offers to the Middle East and Vietnam remain on hold: Indian HRC export offers to the Middle East and Vietnam remained unavailable for fresh bookings as mills continued to prioritise domestic sales amid firm local realisations. This limited fresh export availability and kept offers to both destinations on hold.

Meanwhile, Chinese HRC export offers to the Middle East resumed after the Golden Week holiday at around $605/t CFR, up by $5/t w-o-w, primarily due to higher freight costs to the region. However, no fresh bookings were reported at these levels, as buyers remained reluctant to accept the higher offers.

Outlook

Indian HRC export activity is likely to vary across destinations in the coming week. EU-bound bookings may emerge for December shipments as buyers look to secure material ahead of the Q1 CY’27 quota opening. Meanwhile, offers to the Middle East and Vietnam are likely to remain on hold as Indian mills continue to prioritise domestic sales amid better domestic realisations, keeping fresh export availability limited.