Indian HRC export market continues to remain quiet, awaits clarity on export duty

• Indian mills remain withdrawn from overseas markets
• Overseas buyers cautiously inquire about Indian HRC amidst export duty
• Demand from UAE, EU remains slow

Indian steel mills have remained largely muted on the overseas trade platform this week as well. Moreover, buyers are also awaiting clarity on how the mills are coping  with the export duty @15% announced on non-alloyed flat steel products, including HRCs, on 21 May 2022.

If sources are to be believed, the mills are still busy figuring out how to honour the shipments of the previously concluded deals.

Market-wise global HRC update:

• Vietnamese mill offering discount to entice buyers
  The Vietnamese steel major, Formosa Ha Tinh, was heard offering discounts @ 30-50/t to buyers for July and early-August sales. The mill had annonuced its HRC (SAE1006, skinpassed) price at $855/t CIF Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) towards the middle of the month. Witnessing slow trade activities in the market, the mill announced discounts and is negotiating one-to-one presently, informed a reliable Vietnam based source. Chinese HRC (SAE1006) offers were heard at around $760-770/t CFR Vietnam compared with the previous week’s offers at $765-790/t CFR.
• UAE  want clarity on export duty; cautiously inquires on Indian HRCs
  Despite the annoucement of an export duty, UAE-based buyers were heard bidding for Indian HRCs. However, they remain cautious with respect to the impact of the duty structure on the deal pricing. “Buyers are cautiously inquiring about Indian origin HRCs, and want more clarity on the export duty before committing anything,” said a reliable source from the UAE. Not many HRC offers from China were heard as most of them have done away with July allocations. Some indications were at around $830/t CFR UAE contrasted against $880/t CFR level, assessed a week ago.
• Demand in Europe remains subdued
  The demand for HRCs remain subdued in the Europe market with end-buyers opining that prices are yet to bottom out.

Outlook
Uncertainty around the export duty continues to weigh on the HRC export trade from India. This, in turn, will impact the mills’ list prices in the domestic market, which might witness a correction for the June month’s sales.