Indian DRI, billet and rebar update – 19 Jan

Spot trades in the Indian secondary steel market weakened as prices declined further by upto INR 1,200/t ($16) d-o-d.

As per the assessment, sponge iron and billet prices have fallen by INR 200-1,200/t in most of the regions and a major price drop in billet was noticed in central, western and southern India (Raipur, Jalna, Mumbai and Chennai) by INR 800-1,200/t. Following it, rebar prices have declined by INR 200-1,000/t with a sharp fall of INR 900-1,000/t being observed in Mumbai, Jalna & Raipur.

Market sources expect demand likely to remain moderate as participants feel risk for taking positions at prevailing offers and are thus in wait & watch mode. On the other side, sellers are also aggressive due to no major future orders along weakening global raw material prices.

Semi Finished

• Induction grade billet export offers stood at $506-508/t exw Durgapur, equivalent to $530-535/t CPT Nepal. Few deals reported by market sources.
• Raipur based sponge P-DRI makers have further reduced offers by INR 300/t to INR 24,900-25,000/t & few inquiries reported at INR 24,800-24,900/t exw.
• Raigarh based Singhal Steel offered billet at INR 37,000/t exw. However no major deals reported from officials.
• Raipur based mills sourcing Sponge C-DRI lumps from Rourkela at around INR 26,000/t FoR Raipur.
• BMM Ispat decreased offers by INR 500/t for FeM 80 P-DRI lumps to INR 24,500/t exw Bellary.

Rebar (12 mm)

• GK TMT is offering at INR 44,000/t exw Raipur (Down by INR 1,000/t).
• BS TMX TMT offers reported at INR 41,500/t exw Raigarh (Down by INR 500/t).
• Century TMT offers assessed at INR 42,000/t exw Muzaffarnagar (Down by INR 500/t).
• Diamond TMT is offering at INR 47,200/t FoR Ahmedabad (Down by INR 800/t).
• Polaad TMT offers reported at INR 47,000/t exw Jalna (Down by INR 1,000/t).

Wire Rod and Structure

• Mid scale mills wire rod export offers hovering at $590/t exw Durgapur, equivalent to $615/t CPT Nepal.
• Trade discount in Raipur wire rod dropped by INR 200/t to INR 1,600-1,800/t, also base offers plunged by INR 1,000/t to INR 43,500/t exw. In addition, trade reference price in Durgapur fell by INR 500/t to INR 43,000/t exw.
• Raipur based heavy structure manufacturers, kept stable their base price at INR 43,000/t, and given trade discount by INR 1,000-1,300/t, current trade price of 200 mm Angle is at INR 44,600-45,000/t exw.

Reference prices as on 19th Jan’21