First week of September is likely to observe an increase of INR 500/MT in domestic HRC prices following depreciation in INR and anticipation of safeguard duty.
Safeguard duty panic among importers
Trade sources shared with SteelMint that fear of safeguard duty on hot rolled products has negatively impacted the imported HRC market. With the news of safeguard duty doing the rounds in Indian steel circuit, importers are holding back their purchases despite fall in import offers from China, Russia, and Japan. Currently, 2.5 mm HRC from China is being offered in the range of USD 315-320/MT, which was USD 325-330/MT two weeks back.
Pricey Imports
Meanwhile, HRC import has become costlier following import duty hike of 2.5% on all steel products by the Indian government and about 4% depreciation in INR in the month of August. As per market sources, demand has picked up a bit and buyers are stocking up HRC. Thus, some domestic steel manufacturers are likely to increase their HRC prices by INR 500/MT.
However, a trader mentioned that this pick-up in demand is not real demand as no new projects have been announced by the government recently. The want is generated to meet requirements of ongoing projects.
Current Domestic HRC Offers
Current offers for 2.5 mm (IS2062) grade HRC is being assessed at INR 32,000/MT (ex-Mumbai), INR 32,500/MT (ex-Chennai) and INR 32,500/MT (ex-Delhi). All prices include excise of 12.50%.
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