Indian HRC export market witnessed a sharp fall this week by around $11/t due to the absence of trades in the export market. Indian mills are focusing on the domestic market and are unlikely to offer HRC to Vietnam at lower prices. However, mills are interested to offer HRC for exports to UAE at around $750-760/t CFR basis.
“It’s hard to conclude anything at these levels as rollers are aiming for around $730/t CFR UAE and pipe makers are bidding around $690/t CFR basis for next round of bookings”,HRC importer based in UAE shared with SteelMint
Currently, SteelMint HRC (SAE 1006) index stands at a $738/t FoB basis which was at $749/t FoB basis last week.
Rationale:
Four indicative prices were considered as T2 inputs, with an average price of $738/t. The final price was an average of T2 inputs due to the absence of confirmed trades (T1). The CFR prices were converted to FoB equivalent by deducting freight costs from the buyer/seller.
Global HRC market overview:
1.Possible reduction in export rebate hike China HRC export offers-
Chinese HRC manufacturers have pushed their offers up by $10-20/t this week since the Chinese Government may announce a possible reduction in export rebates to 8-9% which was 13% earlier. The move has been taken to curb the excess steel production in the country.
The current week assessed export offers stands at around $640-650/t FoB China which was $620-630/t FoB basis a week back. Further, a few mills have added conditions for buyers to share in losses in their contracts, in case the export rebate cut is enacted by the government.
2.CIS origin HRC export offers tumbles by $50/t w-o-w-
HRC producers in the CIS region have steeply reduced their offering to $695-725/t FoB Black Sea in comparison with $745-760/t FoB basis a week ago. Importers showed low buying interest over declining global HRC offers. In addition to this, Turkish importers have grown concerned about the European Commission’s indications to imply an anti-dumping duty on HRC imports
3.Imported HRC offers to Vietnam continue to decline-
Chinese steel mills continued to reduce their HRC export offers to Vietnam for the third consecutive week with the recent decline of $15/t in the current week. The current offer for HRC (SAE 1006) stands around $655/t CFR Vietnam as against $670/t CFR basis a week ago.
Also, the resurgence of COVID infections in Vietnam and the upcoming Tet holidays weighed on buying interest.
4.Imported HRC offers to Pakistan-
Chinese steel mills are offering HRC to Pakistan at around $650/t CFR basis. Also, last week Taiwan based major steel mill booked around 20,000 t HRC with Pakistan at around $780/t CFR basis.
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