India: JSPL Plate Prices Unaltered

JSPL, one of the primary manufacturers of Plates in India, held its prices constant for now. Last week Essar Steel, one of its competitors in the Plate segment, has announced to reduce its prices for some specific commodity grades, whereas SAIL kept its prices constant for this month.

Talking to SteelMint, an official from JSPL said, “Currently it is difficult to say whether there is any demand revival. We have decided to keep our prices constant as of now. However, looking at the global pricing trends, we will take a decision to revise our prices accordingly”.

The official further added that domestic demand has not been quite responsive. We have strong booking orders till the end of April, but it is difficult to predict how the demand is going to pan out at the end of this month.

Demand for Plates in eastern India has plateaued. Some of the traders based in Kolkata are unable to dispose off their inventories for Plates owing to a slowdown in project activities. This slowdown in government projects had a ripple effect on other private projects which have also cut their bookings for now.

“We are hopeful that the demand may improve after the elections and there would be some relief for us”, said a trader in Kolkata.

Market experts believe that the pricing of domestic Plate manufacturers dependent on global factors particularly prices in China. Offers for 21 mm thickness Plates from China are hovering at around USD 630-650/MT CFR Chennai. There is an apprehension in the market that Chinese Plate prices may rebound and revive optimism in the global market. This will help Indian manufacturers to raise prices as well.

The  prices for Plates of different thickness are as follows: