SteelMint: Indian HRC export index increases by $15/t on higher global offers

Indian HRC (SAE 1006) export index increased this week following an uptrend in global offers. SteelMint’s HRC (SAE 1006) index stands at $755/t FoB East-coast basis against $740/t FoB basis last week.

HRC (SAE 1006) export offers from a private Indian steel mill is heard at $775-780/t CFR Vietnam for end Apr-May shipments. However, these are just the floated offers and no confirmed trades have been reported so far at the increased offers. Last week another private steelmaker based in Eastern India booked 30,000 t HRC at $760/t CFR basis for April –May shipments. However, this deal was not taken into consideration for index calculation as it was not concluded in our publishing window.

Meanwhile, mills will soon be actively offering HRC to UAE since importers have started restocking HRC before the Ramadan holidays.

In addition to this, mills are offering HRC on the higher side to the European markets and indicative price levels are heard around $880/t CFR Antwerp, up by $10 w-o-w.

Rationale: Eight indicative prices were considered as T2 inputs, with an average price of $755/t. The final price was an average of T2 inputs due to the absence of confirmed trades (T1). Deals concluded last week, were not considered for calculation. The CFR prices were converted to FoB equivalent by deducting freight costs from the buyer/seller.

Global HRC market overview-

• China HRC export offers go up on rallying futures- The rally in the futures market and increasing domestic HRC prices have pushed Chinese producers to offer high prices this week. The export offers for HRC (SS400) have moved up by $30-40/t to $740-750/t FoB China against the previous week’s range of $710-720/t FoB basis. Stringent checks on production restrictions announced in Tangshan province to control air pollution along with surging marine-freight rates are other reasons behind higher export offers from China.
• CIS origin HRC export offer soars high on increased demand- A gradual improvement in demand from major importing nations over the past couple of weeks has pushed CIS HRC export offers by a significant $40-45/t this week. The current week assessed HRC export offer stands at $790-820/t FoB Black Sea contrasted against $750-775/t FoB basis a week ago. Further, mills in the CIS region are well booked for April deliveries and are now offering May shipments.
• Imported HRC offers in Vietnam continue to be buoyant- Following the increased downstream steel processing industry demand and higher prices announced by domestic mills, Vietnamese buyer preference for imported HRC is on a rise. Few deals have been reported since the beginning of the month and are listed in the table below. The possibility of export rebate cuts by the Chinese Govt. has led to increased offers at $760-770/t CFR Vietnam, which was $750-760/t at the beginning of the previous week. This has in turn pushed other exporting nations to offer at further elevated price ranges.
• Pakistan’s imported HRC prices on a rise- There has been a deal reported involving 20,000 t HRC (re-rolling grade) from Taiwan towards the end of the previous week at $820/t CFR Pakistan for May delivery, SteelMint learned from Pakistan-based sources. Further, Taiwanese mills are now offering at higher levels of $830/t CFR basis. Offers from other exporting nations were heard with China at $760/t CFR basis, while that from Korea and Japan stand around $820-830/t CFR basis.