Indian hot rolled coil prices have softened by a further $15-20/tonne this week; however, mills are still reluctant to quote low numbers and are instead asking buyers to send them bids. Buyers – aware of Indian offers in different markets – are seen throwing out lower bids in the hope of concluding deals at huge discounts, Kallanish notes.

Moreover, inflation in Western markets has directly and indirectly impacted Indian HRC, by reducing enquiries from Europe and Vietnam. The latest offer for Indian SAE 1006 2mm+ HRC was heard last week at $610/t cfr Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), right before China’s market plunged. A deal was not concluded and buyers are now heard bidding at $570-575/t cfr HCMC. No offers were heard floated by Indian mills this week.

“Vietnam is down for Indian HRC now,” says a trading source. “Bids from Vietnam are low now and no Indian mills have floated any offers for this week to Vietnam.”

Initial quotes for 2mm+ re-rollable grade HRC to the Gulf Cooperation Council are heard this week at $690-700/t cfr Jebel Ali; however, Indian mills are accepting bids at as low as $640-650/t cfr. A deal for 20,000 tonnes of structural grade HRC was heard concluding at $670/t cfr Jebel Ali last week.

An enquiry for 10,000-12,000t of multiple grades of re-rollable HRC was made by a United Arab Emirates-based mill at $600/t cfr, which is unworkable for Indian mills.

“Our sales have reduced to 50% of what we used to do before,” says a GCC-based mill source. “We are facing strong resistance from our buyers and no one is in a hurry to book as the market is sliding very quickly.”

“Moreover, we are also seeing Indian mills offering different numbers to Vietnam and different yet higher numbers to GCC-based buyers. This partiality is favouring Vietnamese sellers as their inward and outward freight to the US is low as compared to ours and hence selling the HRC at a lower price to them is kicking us out of the competition,” the GCC source adds.

Indications for large and small quantities to Europe are heard at $670-675/t cfr Italy and $700/t cfr Antwerp, respectively.

After the recent hikes in Turkish mills’ domestic HRC offers, Indian mills are mulling concluding a few deals this week at $660-670/t cfr Turkey levels.

The Indian rupee is expected to touch INR 81/dollar in the coming weeks, as per analysts. This will in turn help Indian mills to further drop their offers without denting their rupee realisations. However, European and Turkish buyers are also facing currency devaluation, which may hamper Indian mills’ ability to sell there.

Meanwhile, E250-grade HRC offers in the domestic market are heard at INR 58,500/t ($731.54/t) ex-Mumbai this week. Offers for E350 and GP coils are noted at INR 61,000/t and 68,000/t ex-Mumbai, respectively.