Appreciation in Indian rupee against US dollar has supported export offers of Billet & Sponge Iron. This has made buyers cautious for fresh bookings, as per exporters in eastern India.
The Indian Rupee which was hovering close to Rs 70 last week is now trading nearly Rs 69 against US dollar. This has made export offers strong as falling domestic prices should lower export offers too, however its more or less firm presently due to rally in Rupee.
The latest export offers of induction route Billet (100*100 mm) reported at around USD 450/MT ex-mill at Durgapur (eastern India), equivalent to USD 480-485/MT CNF Nepal (Raxaul border), which are more or less firm. However in the same duration domestic offers for the material fell by INR 500-1,000/MT (USD 7-15).
Nepal is the largest buyer of Indian Billets, although presently the mills in Nepal are in wait and watch trend as imports are getting costlier with fresh bookings, meanwhile domestic demand of finished steel in Nepal has continued to remain weak.
Similarly, Indian Sponge iron (FeM 78-80) export offers being supported and are currently evaluated at USD 330/MT, against USD 320-325/MT, CNF Chittagong, Bangladesh towards the beginning of the week. Inline with price movement in domestic market, it marked fall of INR 500-700/MT (USD 7-10) in last 5-6 days.
On an average Bangladesh imported about 30,000-40,000 MT Indian sponge iron on monthly premises. Out of total Indian sponge iron exports from India, Bangladesh contributes 50-55%.
If participants are to be believed, there was no major export inquiries owing to appreciation in India rupee. As per assessment Indian rupee has strengthened by 1.5% in a week’s time.
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