Domestic rebar offers in Nepal increased by NPR 1,000/tonne (t) ($8/t), w-o-w, on account of active demand and rise in Indian steel prices.
Sources said, with a slight uptick in prices, lifting of the material improved in the local market. This, in turn, eased selling pressure on the mills.
Rebar offers from standalone mid-sized rolling mills for 10-20 mm currently stand at NPR 82,000-83,000/t ($675-683/t), while offers of premium brands are hovering at NPR 85,000/t ($700). Prices are on an ex-works basis and excluding VAT.
Import trade highlights:
- About three rakes (7,500 t) of BF-route billet deals were reported from India this week at around $595-600/t CPT Nepal.
- A few lots of IF-route billets were also sold at around $550/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $575/t CPT Nepal. Prices were up by $10/t, w-o-w.
- Offers for mid-scale mills’ wire rods increased by $10-15/t, w-o-w, and currently stand at $610-615/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $635-640/t CPT Nepal.
- However, BF-route wire rod offers dropped to around $695-700/t as against $715/t CPT Nepal last week. Demand continued to remain poor due to competitive offers from mid-sized mills along with sufficient stock with them.
- Sponge iron (mix material of 70% lumps and 30% fines) export offers increased by $10/t and are hovering at $430-435/t CPT Nepal. As healthy orders of about 8,000-10,000/t were placed last week, no fresh deals were reported this week, sources informed.
Outlook
Sources are expecting that Nepal’s domestic steel prices are likely to see minor fluctuations amidst expectations that Indian steel prices may remain volatile in the near-term amidst seasonal subdued demand in both the nations.
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