Posted on 02 Apr 2025
India’s domestic hot and cold rolled coil market remained upbeat with stable HRC prices and CRC prices rising marginally by INR 500-750/tonne ($5.8-8.8/t) week-on-week.
The bullish market mood was being supported by material shortages, continuing positive sentiment from DGTR’s safeguard duty proposal, and stable demand, Kallanish learns from sources.
As per sources, most of the major Indian mills have scheduled their annual maintenance shutdowns in the April-June quarter (Q1) of this current fiscal (FY26), which is causing material shortages. Tata Steel has shut down one of its blast furnace mills in Jamshedpur for two months, which is expected to keep 200,000-250,000t of material off the market.
AMNS India has reduced production since January/February and the company is expected to continue facing some production or efficiency related challenges as it faces import duties on metallurgical coke.
AMNS India’s metallurgical coke imports increased by 14% since 2021 and stood around 1.4mt in 2024. The company’s ceo Dilip Oommen said that without additional metcoke import allocations, AMNS India may be forced to reduce production in April and shut down its blast furnace by June (see Kallanish passim).
Other players such as Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) are also expected to have some material shortages, due to its increasing focus on the downstream segment.
State-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) also plans to reduce production due to maintenance related shutdowns. Sources say it will likely be for a temporary period of around 10-15 days in Q1.
On 18 March, DGTR recommended a provisional 12% safeguard duty for 200 days flat steel products. The body has invited industry comments within 30 days and will hold an oral hearing before making a final decision (see Kallanish passim).
Last week sources said prices may continue to increase further by INR 2,000/t by 15 April, driven by the positive sentiment boost from the announcement (see Kallanish passim).
Indian domestic HRC offers are flat on-week at INR 51,500-52,000/t ex-Mumbai domestic delivered basis, for IS2062/E250 BR grade.
Domestic CRC offers are up by INR 500-750/t on-week to INR 57,500-58,500/t ex-Mumbai domestic delivered basis, for IS513 Grade O.
Domestic HR plate offers are flat w-o-w at INR 55,500-56,000/t ex-Mumbai delivered, for base E-250 or S235 equivalent grade.
Domestic galvanized coil offers held steady on-week at INR 59,500-60,500/t ex-Mumbai base price for 0.8mm and above thickness, regular commercial grades.
Colour-coated coil offers are also flat on-week at INR 70,000-71,000/t for base commercial grades.
In the import segment, no new HRC or CRC offers were heard for the second consecutive week as domestic buyers remain wary of booking imported material following the safeguard proposal.
Last heard import offers from ex-FTA countries were at $490-505/t cfr Mumbai, for similar HRC grades and shipment times. India has a free trade agreement with Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, Vietnam and others.
“Theoretical” China-origin import offers are at $465/t fob China, or estimated at $495/t cfr Indian ports, for similar grades, amid the absence of firm offers due to China’s BIS licence expiring in November 2024. This does not include the 7.5% basic customs duty applicable to non-FTA countries like China.
No new HR plates import offers were heard this week. Last week, South Korean-origin HR plate offers were heard at $710/t cfr Mumbai for S355J2 + N grades, with no buyer interest.
Source:Kallanish
