Overseas trade activities were weighed down by persistent sluggishness in demand this week. However, SteelMint’s Indian HRC export index stood unchanged at $879/tonne (t) FoB east coast compared to the previous week.
“The market is relatively silent after the last round of Middle East deals concluded last week. A private player was also heard trying to explore Turkey but no deals were heard recently. .,” shared a trader.
Vietnam-based market participants expect domestic mills to announce offers next week and expect monthly offers to come down by $30/t. There are not many active offers of HRC from India to Vietnam, except the ones offered by traders.
Trade sources informed that Russian-origin HRC was being booked by Turkey at $890-900/t CFR levels. However, price indications from India were heard at around $910-915/t CFR.
Rationale: Seven indicative prices were considered as T2 inputs while no major export deals were reported as T1. The final price was an average of T2 inputs which stood at $879/t FoB. The CFR prices were converted to FoB equivalent by deducting freight costs from the buyer/seller.
Global HRC market overview-
1. China’s HRC export offers up $10/t: Export offers for HRC (SS400) from Chinese mills stand at $970-1,000/t FoB, up by $10/t as against $970-990/t FoB last week. Production restrictions in the domestic market with more than 20 mills opting for maintenance shutdowns in Sept might raise supply concerns. Also, overseas buyers have been on the sidelines waiting for clarity on China’s export tax policy.
2. CIS export offers down, w-o-w, on sluggish demand: This week, offers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) went down by $5-15/t to $865-885/t FoB Black Sea compared with $880-890/t FoB a week ago. Offers went down owing to limited export opportunities from the traditional markets, especially Turkey. Also, the export duty announced by the Russian government in early-Aug’21 continued to weigh on demand. The export duty on hot-rolled stands at $115/t while that for cold-rolled is at $133/t.
3. Vietnam’s HRC import market quiet: The imported hot-rolled coil (HRC) market in Vietnam remained silent in absence of firm buying enquiries. Offers remained flat from Indian and Chinese mills while the Vietnamese market still faces hurdles because of stringent lockdown norms.
Offers for the current week
a. Chinese tier-III mills’ offers are at around $910/t CFR.
b. Indian mills’ indicative offers stand unchanged at $890-900/t CFR.
c. Offers by Russian mills are at around $850-860/t CFR as against $860-870/t CFR a week back.
d. Japanese mills were heard offering at $1,010-1,020/t. However, no firm bids were reported on competitive offers from other nations.
4. Pakistan awaits fresh round of imported HRC offers: HRC import offers from China were heard at $960-975/t CFR basis. Meanwhile, last week, 20,000 t of HRCs were booked from Kazakhstan at $925-930/t CFR Karachi.
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