Wirana Shipping report sees shot-term hiccup in steel prices
Indian plate prices dropped by US$11/MT this week (week ended 14 Oct) followed by a US$3/MT drop in imported scrap prices as global steel trade have been experiencing weaker demand as well as pressure on prices for some weeks, according to a Wirana Shipping Corp report.
“The only strong factor, which was good local demand for finished steel products, has now slowed down this week due to which secondary steel mills would wait before they would restock the materials,” said the report.
While this does not change strong fundamentals of Indian economic growth, there could be a short-term hiccup in the steel prices due to a cautious approach that could be adopted by traders and steel mills.
Indian currency weakened to lowest levels against the US Dollar this week to 83.42 against 1 US Dollar. This is mainly due to higher oil prices affecting country trade balances since India is third largest consumer of oil and is also a net importer of oil, noted the report.
Ship recyclers’ sentiments were weak due to slowing global and local demand of steel.
Prices offered for fresh tonnages were reduced by US$5-10/MT. Prices offered by ship recyclers could be under marginal pressure, according to the report. Fiinews.com
