India: Europe remains India's top destination for hot rolled coil sales due to small-quantity buyers willing to pay relatively higher. Furthermore, competition from China and other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Japan and South Korea have pushed prices down and stifled the quantity of coils that Indian mills are able to export in bulk tonnages. Despite this, market sentiment in India continues to remain resilient amid fluctuations on a global scale.

An Indian Steel mill has received bids of $795-800/tonne cfr southern Europe for a bulk tonnage of HRC, however, the deal is yet to be concluded. The target price set by the mill rests at $810-815/t cfr southern Europe, netting back to $750-755/t fob India.

Furthermore, a trading firm recently procured 3,000 tonnes of regular and 2 metre-wide structural HRC from an Indian mill at $830-835/t cfr France. Following this purchase all major Indian mills have increased their offers to $830-840/t cfr Antwerp or Bilbao for small tonnages of regular sized structural HRC.

“Large volume bookings in Europe are down on the slowed sentiment prevailing there,” says a trading source. “Customers like small re-rollers and service centres with acute HRC requirements are paying more.”

Indian mills have reportedly reduced their appetite for large-volume deals to maximize profit. According to a source, this has resulted in an increase in the frequency of smaller lots being sold in Europe. Prices for cold rolled coil (CRC) with DC-01 grade were indicated at $890-895/t cfr Antwerp last week and are now quoted at $900-910/t cfr Antwerp. Additionally, offers for Z100 0.58mm Zinc-coated Steel were noted at $1,040-1,050/t cfr Antwerp.

Despite competitive offers from Japan and China, Indian mills have had difficulty in closing any large tonnage deals in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Reports indicate that just one Indian mill was offering structural grade HRC at $735-740/t cfr GCC, and managed to only sell 1,000-2,000t of product. The mill has now withdrawn its offers from the market, with no other Indian mills active in the region.

In the Indian domestic market, prices for E250 grade hot rolled coils (HRC) have been noted at INR 60,750-61,500/t ($733) ex-Mumbai. This is higher than imported HRC offers at INR 59,000/t ex-Mumbai. For both E350 and GP coils, offers are currently being heard at INR 63,000-63,500/t and INR 72,500-73,000/t ex-Mumbai respectively.

"Mills, after concluding small tonnage deals in Europe, are mulling raising sentiment in the domestic market, but there is resistance from the buyer’s side; retailers are thus struggling to sell material,” informs a domestic market source.