[SMM India Weekly Review] HRC Sellers Lift FOB Indications ; Billet Offers Thin
Indian HRC export indications for Europe rose from around 640USD/tonne FOB India on Monday to 650USD/tonne by Friday, but North European indications remained at 715–730USD/tonne CFR and no fresh sale was confirmed at the higher FOB level. Sellers held firm as domestic order books and limited spot availability gave mills little reason to discount export material. European buyers continued to weigh quota access and customs-clearance timing before committing to new cargoes: the European Commission’s ledger, checked on September 28 and last updated on September 25, showed 2,991.01tonnes remaining in India’s July–September HRC quota, or 98.0% utilisation. The quota was critical but still open for drawing requests; a separate 149,318.61-tonne allocation is listed for October–December. Billet export indications eased from around 470USD/tonne FOB India on Monday to 465–470USD/tonne by Thursday, and no current export offer was heard on Friday, underscoring the lack of fresh trading evidence at the week’s close. Mumbai HRC remained at approximately 625–630USD/tonne (60,000–60,500INR/tonne) EXW, excluding GST. Firm coking-coal costs continued to support mill asking levels; a possible 2,000INR/tonne domestic increase in October was still a market expectation, not an implemented rise.