The curbing of European hot rolled coil supply on recent mill fires has increased the scope for imports to satisfy demand, motivating Indian mills to hike their offers in the region after the Easter holiday, Kallanish notes.

According to sources, a few small-tonnage deals for structural-grade HRC were heard concluded to Antwerp, France and Spain this week and last week at $830-840/tonne cfr, netting back to $780-785/t fob India.

Even smaller lots of 500 tonnes were also booked this week at $830-840/t cfr Antwerp, sources inform.

Two bulk-tonnage offers were made by Indian mills to European customers. An Indian steel major is reported offering 30,000t of 2.3mm+ 1,250mm wide re-rollable grade HRC at around $750-755/t cfr Italy. However, the deal had not been concluded by deadline. Another Indian steelmaker offered a re-rollable and structural mix cargo at around $790-800/t cfr Europe.

"Indian mills are trying to raise their offers from a couple of weeks onward, but due to resistance from buyers, they were unable to achieve their target hiked price," a source says. "But the recent [European] supply constraints have raised their [Indian mills’] hopes to achieve high numbers in the region considering the low [number of] foreign suppliers and advantage of short lead delivery ... We feel that starting next week, after the Easter holidays, the [Indian] mills will float their revised offers."

Meanwhile, current offers for DC-01 cold rolled coil are heard at $900-910/t cfr Antwerp, but most deals are concluded at $885-890/t cfr. Sources expect prices for imported CRC will spike amid supply delays from local mills.

Indian re-rollable HRC offers in the Gulf Cooperation Council for May shipment are heard at $720-725/t cfr GCC. Two re-rollers have floated an enquiry each for 10,000-15,000t of HRC and expect to book at below the last-concluded-deal price.

"Considering the current downfall in Chinese sentiment, GCC buyers are targeting booking at below $680-690/t cfr GCC levels ... Let us see if Indian mills agree to this level or not," a source says.

Meanwhile, another source opines that Indian mills will not drop their offers so low, as it will impact their position in Europe. Hence, the expected price range would be somewhere between $710-720/t cfr GCC, the source adds.

In the Indian domestic market, mills raised their E250 HRC offers by INR 1,000/t ($12.20) to INR 61,500-61,750/t ex-Mumbai; however, most deals are occurring at INR 58,000-59,000/t ex-Mumbai. Meanwhile, offers for GP coils are heard at INR 73,000/t ex-Mumbai.

Sources opine that Indian mills are in a good position because of their strong domestic situation. Consecutive falls in import prices amid declining Chinese futures markets are discouraging importers from booking. As long as the domestic market is doing well, meanwhile, Indian mills will not need to reduce export offers.