Indian Steel Market Weekly Snapshot

Indian Iron & Steel market observed down trend during the Week-28 (9-14 Jul), as the prices dipped owing to lack of domestic & export inquiries.

As per participants, the price fall is seasonal as supply improved specifically for Billet & Rebars, however demand continue to remain weak owing to slow-down construction activities on ongoing monsoon season.

During the week prices of Semis (Billet) products fall approximately INR 1,000-2,000/MT (USD 15-30) & Finished Steel (Rebars) by INR 1,000-2,500/MT (USD 15-37) in across major Indian markets. Further the Flat steel prices also corrected by INR 500-1,000/MT (USD 7-15) for July deliveries.

Iron Ore: NMDC increased iron ore prices by INR 140-180/MT from Chhattisgarh mines with effect from 10 July. However base prices of NMDC in Karnataka e-auctions remain unchanged.

Odisha’s state-owned miner- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled its iron ore e-auction on 09 Jul’18. Total quantity put under the hammer was 420,000 MT iron ore fines. As per market sources few major participants in the e-auction were – Jindal Steel & Power and Vizag Steel. According to market sources report to SteelMint, the e-auction received a good response. Out of the total quantity of 420,000 MT iron ore fines offered, around 80% (334,000 MT) of material got booked.

Pellets: JSPL concluded pellet export deal of 50,000 MT regular grade at around USD 118-119/MT, CFR China. Demand for pellets continue to remain strong in China. KIOCL concluded deal for high grade (Fe 64%, alumina less than 2%). The deal was heard to have concluded at around USD 117-118/MT, FoB India. Domestic pellet prices in India have observed a mixed response this week. Few pellet makers in eastern and southern India have reduced offers this week by INR 100-200/MT following decline in P-DRI prices and dull inquiries.

Scrap: Indian importers remain silent for scrap imports on seasonal slowdown in local markets and comparatively cheaper domestic scrap. Hardly any trade deal has confirmed as no buyer was interested despite sharp fall in offer levels. The disparity between price expectations of importers and offers from sellers kept everyone in ‘Wait and Watch’ mode. Scrap bookings may not resume actively for next 3-4 weeks until global markets get corrected further.

Price assessment of Shredded from UK and USA stands at around USD 375-378/MT, CFR Nhava Sheva. While offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) have come down by USD 8-12/MT on W-o-W basis. UAE origin offers assessed at USD 340-345/MT while HMS 1 assessed at around USD 345-350/MT, CFR. West African HMS assessed at USD 320-325/MT, CFR Nhava Sheva.

Coal: Seaborne coking coal prices plummeted this week, with transactions concluded at lower levels in the ex-China market wherein sellers offered concessions to liquidate their stock on hand. Presently, Chinese steelmakers’ coal demand has been muted amid uncertainty around production cuts of steel and coke on environmental grounds as well as stricter port restrictions. Moreover, trading activity has slowed down due to a depreciating Yuan. Furthermore, the Indian market has quietened due to the onset of monsoon. Current import offers for the premium HCC grade are down by USD 10/MT to around USD 189/MT FOB Australia, amounting to USD 203/MT CNF India.

Semi Finished: Indian billet prices again down this week by INR 1,000-2,100/MT. In these period major fall of INR 2,000-2,100/MT in billet seen in Jalna & Durgapur due to limited inquiries amid heavy rainfall resulted sharp fall in prices. While as per the data maintained by SteelMint, Indian induction grade billet prices hit an 6 Month low.

Further, Sponge iron offers being reduced by INR 100-400/MT in major market. However, offers in Durgapur declined upto INR 1,700/MT over increased selling pressure.

— Indian sponge iron export offers drop by USD 10/MT W-o-W, price assessment for 78-80 FeM sponge lumps (export grade) stood at USD 330/MT CPT Benapole (dry land port of Bangladesh & India) and USD 350/MT CFR Chittagong, Bangladesh. The price fell further in line with slump in Indian domestic prices and low buying interest from large mills in Bangladesh.

— Nepal has observed decline in its billet imports from India by 6% during Jan-Jun (H1) of 2018 & stood at 526,384 MT as against 560,281 MT in Jul-Dec (H2) of 2017. Indian Induction grade Billet export offers for Nepal have reported at around USD 460/MT ex-mill (Durgapur).

— MMTC Floats 40,000 MT Pig Iron Export Tender on Behalf of NINL heard to have receive highest bid above USD 380/MT, FoB – Sources

— Vizag Steel concludes 27,000 MT Pig Iron export tender at around USD 386-388/MT, FoB India, sources reported. As per sources, the buyer for the material was TATA International.

— Jindal Steel has reduced prices for Steel grade Pig iron and latest price quoted at INR 29,000-29,200/MT ex-plant, Raigarh, Central India. The company also offering Granulated Pig iron (Panther shots) at INR 28,000/MT ex-plant, Angul, Odisha.

— RSP (Rourkela Steel Plant) tender held on Saturday ( 7th July’18) to sell about 12,500 MT steel grade pig iron, had received good response. The base price for the tender was quoted by RSP at INR 27,650/MT, however the auction were settled at INR 27,700-27,800/MT, ex-plant.

— SteelMint’s Pig iron export price assessment stood at USD 380-385/MT FoB India, USD 380-385/MT FoB Brazil and USD 380-390/MT FoB Black sea.

Finish Long Steel price range observed down trend amid slow supply movement and average inquiries in the traders market and price shrunken up to INR 2,500/MT (USD 37) commodity wise.

As per assessment, the rebar price range has been amended in far and wide way on monthly basis by around INR 5,000/MT (USD 73) commodity wise.

The large scale producers has reduced Rebar prices twice in July’18 and the total price reduction till date recorded by INR 1,000-1,500/MT (USD 15-22).

Rathi Steels based North region has decrease the price range by around INR 3,000/MT on week basis and recent offers hovering at INR 38,600-700/MT, 12 mm, Ex-work & excluding GST.

Raipur based Wire Rod suppliers offering trade discount around INR 1,200-1,400/MT (Size – 5.5 mm) which is firm since a week with minor changes.

Finish Flat Steel: This week domestic flat steel market witness correction by INR 500-1000/MT post announcement by major Indian steel manufacturers to roll over in flat steel prices for July deliveries.Thus dwindling demand and lower sales volumes in domestic market have kept the flat steel prices on lower side.

As per SteelMint price assessment,currently trade reference prices for HRC (IS2062) 2.5 mm-8 mm is around INR 45,000/MT (ex-Mumbai),INR 45,300/MT(ex-Delhi) and INR 45,500/MT(ex-Chennai).The prices mentioned above are basic on cash payment excluding GST @ 18%.

Currently trade reference prices for CRC (IS513) 0.9mm is hovering in the range of INR 49,500-50,000/MT (ex-Mumbai),INR 50,500-52,000/MT (ex-Delhi) and INR 51,000/MT (ex-Chennai).The prices mentioned above are basic on cash payment excluding GST@18%.

Market participants mentioned that end users are not booking the material actively and waiting for further correction in prices.Thus manufacturers and traders remain under pressure to sell the material in domestic market.

Indian HRC export offers fall by USD 10/MT for Vietnam in Recent Trades-Recently Indian steel mill have reduced HRC export offers by USD 5-10/MT for Vietnam in line with falling HRC export offers from China.

Market participants in conversation with SteelMint reported that Indian HRC export offers to Vietnam have come down this week in recent deals concluded.A major Indian steel mill based in western region has concluded a deal of 5,000 MT of HRC cargo to Vietnam buyer in the range of USD 600-605/MT CFR basis.

Prior to this, Indian steelmakers have exported over 120,000 MT of HRC to South East Asian nations in the month of June which was in the range of USD 610-615/MT CFR basis.

Indian Raw material and Finished Steel reference Prices as on 14 July 2018 (Week 28)

Prices are Ex-works, Exclusive of GST at 18%

Indian Export Reference Prices as on 14th July’18

Prices in USD/MT
Source: SteelMint Research