Indian HRC market dim
2023-03-24 08:21:36 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 24 Mar 23 - The HRC market in India performed inactively with the approach of the end of the financial year, and some traders moved down prices discouraged by the poor sales performance. At present, the prevailing prices of HRC IS2062 3.0mm*1,500mm*C stand at INR58,000-61,000/t (USD706-742/t) D/P in warehouse Mumbai. Insiders foresee stable prices of HRC in the following several days upon the watchful atmosphere in the market.
"Downstream customers tend to postpone purchasing seeing the arrival of the financial year end, and the market runs quietly. On Thursday, a regular buyer required purchasing 20t of HRC IS2062 3.0mm*1,500mm*C at INR58,000/t (USD706/t) when we quoted INR59,000/t (USD718/t). We had to accept the price since it was the only inquiry the whole day," revealed a local trader. Attributing the slow market to the sluggish demand from downstream industries, the trader pointed out that the price decline in China weakened end users' purchasing activities to some degree. Believing even a further price drop hard to boost the demand with the approach of the financial year end, the trader does not plan to move down prices again and predicts stable prices of HRC in the forthcoming several days.
Holding around 2,000t in stock, doubling that in late February, the trader might sell 400t in March, down from 500t in February. With the regular sales volume of 800tpm, he might sell 1,600t in the first quarter of 2023, against 9,000t more or less in 2022.
Another local trader confirms the inactive market dragged by the sluggish demand and the wait-and-see attitudes of end users. "We keep contacting with regular clients this week, but few of them had intention to purchase. To promote sales, we enlarged the concession to INR500/t (USD6/t) this week from INR200/t (USD2/t) of last week," explained the trader, offering INR61,000/t (USD742/t) for HRC IS2062 3.0mm*1,500mm*C. After tough negotiations, he finally sold 30t of the material at INR60,500/t (USD736/t) on Thursday, and last sold 40t at INR60,800/t (USD740/t) early this week. Adopting wait-and-see attitude towards the market prospect, the trader believes prices of HRC would keep stable till the end of the month.
Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 2,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 800t in March, down from 1,400t in February. He might sell 3,500t in the first quarter of 2023, against 23,000t or so in 2022, holding approximately 2,000t of inventories right now.
"Downstream customers tend to postpone purchasing seeing the arrival of the financial year end, and the market runs quietly. On Thursday, a regular buyer required purchasing 20t of HRC IS2062 3.0mm*1,500mm*C at INR58,000/t (USD706/t) when we quoted INR59,000/t (USD718/t). We had to accept the price since it was the only inquiry the whole day," revealed a local trader. Attributing the slow market to the sluggish demand from downstream industries, the trader pointed out that the price decline in China weakened end users' purchasing activities to some degree. Believing even a further price drop hard to boost the demand with the approach of the financial year end, the trader does not plan to move down prices again and predicts stable prices of HRC in the forthcoming several days.
Holding around 2,000t in stock, doubling that in late February, the trader might sell 400t in March, down from 500t in February. With the regular sales volume of 800tpm, he might sell 1,600t in the first quarter of 2023, against 9,000t more or less in 2022.
Another local trader confirms the inactive market dragged by the sluggish demand and the wait-and-see attitudes of end users. "We keep contacting with regular clients this week, but few of them had intention to purchase. To promote sales, we enlarged the concession to INR500/t (USD6/t) this week from INR200/t (USD2/t) of last week," explained the trader, offering INR61,000/t (USD742/t) for HRC IS2062 3.0mm*1,500mm*C. After tough negotiations, he finally sold 30t of the material at INR60,500/t (USD736/t) on Thursday, and last sold 40t at INR60,800/t (USD740/t) early this week. Adopting wait-and-see attitude towards the market prospect, the trader believes prices of HRC would keep stable till the end of the month.
Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 2,000t, the trader estimates that the sales volume would reach 800t in March, down from 1,400t in February. He might sell 3,500t in the first quarter of 2023, against 23,000t or so in 2022, holding approximately 2,000t of inventories right now.
