Mumbai, June 10 :     Domestic prices of hot rolled coils (HRC) are not expected to rise in the near future despite the firm trend in international steel prices. This is due to the excess capacities coupled with the absence of significant demand in the local market. While international prices of HRC are now ruling firm at over $ 330 per tonne, up marginally from the March level of $ 315 per tonne, domestic prices of HR products are relatively stable at over Rs 16,500 per tonne. Industry expects the prices to remain at these levels in the immediate term, largely due to the excess supply generated by the commissioning of new capacities of both Ispat Industries and Jindal Vijaynagar Steel recently. 'Firstly, capacity in this segment has been building up consistently. Secondly, though demand for steel has shown some signs of improvement as of late, it has not reached such a level to cause a good upswing in local prices,' sums up an industry analyst. Despite such a forecast, it is still expected in some quarters that there may be marginal improvement in HRC prices due to a emphasis on exports of the commodity. Here, while Essar Steel which is the largest exporter of HRC from the country has fixed a target of around 1.2 million tonnes for the current fiscal, exports of other steel manufacturers comprising Tisco, SAIL, Jindal and Ispat is expected to touch around 1 million tonne. 'A possibility now looms that there could be a shortage of HRC in the local market which could push up prices. However, the price increase would not be sharp enough,' sources added. Presently, while the supply of HRC is put at over 12 million tonnes, demand for the commodity, according to reliable estimates could be over 10 million tonnes. With the full commissioning of both Ispat and Jindal units, it is projected that supply of HRC may surpass 15 million tonnes in the next fiscal. The beneficial impact of firm steel prices was seen recently when Tisco announced a 50 per cent jump in net profits at Rs 422.59 crore on a 10 per cent increase in sales at Rs 6,890.87 crore for the year ended March 31, 2000. Tisco had attributed this performance not only to the improvement in world steel prices but also to its efforts in reduction of costs.