Posted on 04 Nov 2019
Indian mills are actively exporting slab, Kallanish understands. Orders were recently taken in China and material has been shipped to Indonesia.
An Indian mill sold two 20,000-tonne cargoes of slab at $370/tonne cfr China during the week of 21 October. The cargoes are for November shipment.
Another Indian mill was recently negotiating with a re-roller for the past ten days or so. Several days ago, the mill sold 40,000t of slab for December shipment at $376/t cfr Indonesia, Indian trading sources said on Friday. Indonesian sources heard this was the offered price to the re-roller but are unsure of the final concluded price.
The Indian mill's slab prices have been the most competitive in recent months, Indonesian trading sources note. It sold slab at $428/t cfr Indonesia in September and at $410/t cfr Indonesia in October, they say. “I wonder how much longer they will be in this market,” a trader opines. He notes that the export of Indian slab to the region is a new occurrence.
Another regional trader has heard that the Indian mill, which is active in Indonesia, is currently in negotiations to export slab to China too. “Currently, Chinese buyers are looking for higher import volumes of slab,” he says.
Meanwhile, domestic hot rolled coil prices are expected to strengthen in India. Domestic prices for November-month sales would be announced on Monday or Tuesday, Indian trading sources say.
Indian HRC prices are prevailing at INR 34,000-35,000/t ex-works ($480-494/t). While domestic prices are higher, weak domestic demand and excess production have pressured Indian mills into exporting at lower price levels to Vietnam and elsewhere.
