Indian CRC Prices Fall in Chennai on Cheaper Import

Domestic CRC prices in Chennai market noticed a correction of INR 500-1,000/MT (USD 8-16/MT) in the month of May owing to cheaper import. However, there has been no official announcement made by steelmakers.

Current offers for 0.9 mm Cold Roll Coil (CRC) are in range of INR 39,500-40,000/MT (prices including excise of 12.5%) Ex-Chennai. Some traders are even offering the material at INR 39,000/MT to match imported prices, which are assessed at INR 38,500-39,000/MT.

CRC prices in other parts of the country remained stable. A trader based in Ludhiana confirmed to have bought CRC at INR 41,500/MT from Tata Steel. He also mentioned that offer from SAIL is around INR 40,500/MT and from POSCO is INR 41,900/MT (prices including excise of 12.5%).

Imported Offers

Imported CRC offers are assessed at USD 450-460/MT from China and USD 480-490/MT from Japan and around USD 500/MT from Korea.

CRC Import Up by 34% in FY15

Indian import of CRC noticed an increment of 34% in FY15 owing to lower prices in global market. Indian traders imported about 1.7 MnT CRC in FY15 against 1.27 MnT in FY14.

India’s Flat Steel Import (in “000 MT)

All are Non-alloy prime & defective steel
Source: JPC

Indian steelmakers are hopeful that domestic prices will find support looking at depreciating currency and reasonably higher offers from global suppliers.