Indian steel manufacturers are planning to hike domestic flat steel prices by around INR 1000/MT (USD 14) in October amid higher raw material cost and costlier imports.
Trade participants in conversation with SteelMint that, major Indian steel manufacturers are planning to raise flat steel prices by around INR 1000/MT in October for which the announcement is likely to be made later this week or next week.
1. Costlier imports -Meanwhile depreciation of Indian currency against USD has made imports costlier. The exchange rate is currently around 72.4 which was at 69.7 a month ago. According to the last deals concluded from South Korea was at USD 625/MT, CFR for October shipment, after which no deal was reported. Last Price assessment for Japanese HRC was around USD 630-640/MT, CFR levels. Thus there is still a gap between landed cost of imports and domestic prices.
2. India considering hike in steel import duty – Reports: As per reports, Indian steel ministry has proposed to increase effective import duty on some steel products to 15% from current rates of 5-12.5%, however further clarity on this is awaited. Market participants anticipate this as a strong reason for price hike.
3.Hike in raw material cost : Coking coal prices have increased to USD 206.5/MT, FoB Australia against USD 183.75/MT, FoB Australia a month ago over supply tightness.
However on other hand flat steel prices witness marginal uptrend in northern regions like Faridabad and Ahmedabad markets by INR 500/MT. And CRC prices increased by INR 500-1000/MT in Ludhiana and Faridabad market amid short supply. In other regions, demand was reported to be slower than in previous week.
Current trade reference prices for HRC (IS2062) 2.5 mm-8 mm is around INR 46,500/MT (ex-Mumbai), INR 46,500-46,800/MT (ex-Delhi) and INR 46,000-46,500/MT(ex-Chennai).The prices mentioned above are basic prices excluding GST @ 18% on cash payment basis.
Currently trade reference prices for CRC (IS513) 0.9mm is hovering in the range of INR 51,500/MT (ex-Mumbai),INR 52,000-53,500/MT (ex-Delhi) and INR 51,500- 52,000/MT (ex-Chennai).The prices mentioned above are basic prices excluding GST@18% on cash payment basis.
In the beginning of the month major Indian steel mills had raised flat steel prices by INR 1000-1500/MT on increased raw material costs of iron ore.
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