India: North Market reduce by INR 1,100/MT; Other Markets following the Trend

• MS Ingot offers in Raipur & Durgapur down by INR 700-1,400/MT W-o-W
• Re-bar prices in Durgapur & NCR Region have reduced by INR 300-400/MT  W-o-W
• Sponge iron prices in Raipur (Chattisgarh) and Rourkela (Odisha) have declined by INR 200-300/MT W-o-W, whereas Durgapur Sponge iron prices slashed by INR 700/MT W-o-W

SteelMint learned that low availability of Scrap, high prices of Sponge, good finish sales and transportation problem are the major factors behind the volatile steel market in pan India.

Semi Finish

Viability of semi finish from Central & Eastern India to Western & Northern is continues supporting the prices. It is expected that semi finish & finished steel prices may see slight downfall owing to high prices of material and restoring of Iron ore by truck movement by Odisha Government that had stopped for 15 days (i.e 05-20 Apr, 2014), which will increase the supply of Iron ore.

Finished Steel

Re-bar & Structure demand at pan India remains cautious with low inventory level. Stagnant production of semi finish owing to low availability of raw material (Scrap & Sponge) is strengthening high MS Ingot/Billet & Re-bar prices. As a result, Re-bar prices at pan India shot up by INR 1,000-3,000/MT in a month’s time. Manufacturer also commented that sales volume increased in April against March, 2014.

Manufacturers believe that there is no major fall in prices expected and it is also heard that primary manufacturer may hike the prices in coming month owing to scarcity of raw material and shortage of labor in summer season.

Viability of Sponge Iron & MS Billet to improve from Central, East (Raipur, Rourkela & Durgapur) to North India (Mandi):

• Rourkela selling Sponge iron at INR 19,500-19,700/MT to Raipur & Raigarh on Ex Rourkela basis (Freight from Rourkela to Raipur at INR 1,100/MT and Rourkela to Raigarh at INR 600/MT)
• Raigarh offers Billet to Mandi at INR 31,300/MT on Ex- Raigarh Basis (Freight Raigarh to Mandi at INR 3,000/MT)
• Bhiwadi offers Billet for Mandi at INR 33,800-34,000/MT on Ex-Bhiwadi, Consignment basis (Freight from Bhiwadi to Mandi at INR 800-1,000/MT)