EU traders: Indian-origin HRC offers remain most competitive

European traders have confirmed this week that Indian mills remain the most competitive for hot rolled coil import offers into the EU.

Since the beginning of the new year, major Indian mills have been sending offers to Europe at €695/tonne ($845) cfr southern Europe. The price is reasonably in line with domestic offers, though the appetite for imported material remains small, Kallanish notes.

Turkish suppliers have left the market after provisional anti-dumping measures were imposed. Earlier in December competitive offers from Korea and Egypt were heard, but these are not available now.

Rumours have also been circulating of competitive Chinese offers returning after the slight price correction seen since end-December; nevertheless, traders remain sceptical. “We are monitoring the Chinese situation, because prices moved down a little there just before Christmas,” a trader says. “Having said that, Chinese mills remain not interested in the European market and the existing duties of 18.1% and above make most offers uncompetitive.”