Domestic manufacturers of hot-rolled (HR) plates have kept their list prices stable this week, in view of the bearish domestic market sentiments and low demand.
- JSPL’s list price stands firm at 66,000/tonne (t) ($885/t) ex-works Angul, for Jul-Aug ’21 shipments.
- JSW’s list price is flat at INR 68,000/t ($912/t) ex-works Anjar.
- SAIL’s list price is stable at INR 67,200/t ($902/t), ex-Mumbai.
Domestic demand continues to remain sluggish.
“Demand is moving into a slowdown phase. With the arrival of the monsoon, offtakes are low owing to low buying intent from sectors like auto and ancillaries, construction, drums and barrels, pre-engineered buildings (PEB), and heavy engineering (HE),” informed a major western India-based market source.
Trade market prices
For week 29, SteelMint’s benchmark assessment for HR plates (IS-2062/E250) of 5-10 mm thickness remains flat at INR 64,000-65,000/t ($859-872), exy-Mumbai. Prices are exclusive of GST @18%.
Domestic market sentiments are also hit by other factors:
1.High inventories in trade segment: A few sources are concerned that the trade segment players are sitting on good volumes of inventory who are waiting for prices to further correct before opting for more procurements.
2.Low buying interest among plate consumers: Unlike the plate-consuming industries, the end-users are also showing limited interest in procuring due to liquidity concerns and detection of a new Covid-19 variant or third wave in many provinces.
“Sporadic lockdowns across the country has severely impacted the consumption and sales of HR plates. While the detection of a new covid-19 variant has led to increased concerns and precautionary measures in some regions, labour have not returned in full numbers to plants. This has led to the low production. There is muted demand from projects as there are not enough funds,” a trader told SteelMint.
China’s steel plate export prices surge
The Chinese heavy plates export prices are up by $10-20/t from a week earlier. However, major mills have suspended their offers to overseas buyers in order to prioritise the domestic market in view of production cuts in H2CY ’21 for keeping levels in line with that of CY ’20.
The current week’s export offers hover at around $890-910/t FoB China.
Outlook
Domestic traders are awaiting lower price levels from mills before making further procurements of HR plates. But mills are likely to keep prices stable for a few weeks on the back of the current market scenario.
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