Nepal-based steel mills have continued to maintain same rebar offers after lifting offers by around NPR 4,000 ($30) last week. Current rebars (12mm) prices in Nepal are reported at around NPR 88,000-91,000/t ($666-690) exw, excluding VAT, largely stable against last week.
“Although mills have lifted offers last week, but the price hike is yet to be absorbed in the market”, highlighted sources.
Sponge iron bookings remain active
Three rakes (10,000 t) of sponge iron were sold at $395-400/t LTW eastern India, equivalent to $415-420/t CPT Nepal (FeM 79-80%, lumps 70%, fines 30%). About 1,500t of pellet-based DRI (P-DRI) deal was concluded at $360/t LTW from eastern India, equivalent to $380/t CPT Nepal.
Import offers from Indian primary mills rise
BF-route billet offers from India were reported at $570/t CPT Nepal, up by $10 w-o-w. However, no deals were reported at increased offers. Fresh offers of IF-route billets from India stand at $555-560/t CPT Nepal.
Moreover, current offers for BF-route wire rods were assessed at around $620/t CPT Nepal, stable w-o-w
Indian HRC export offers to Nepal have risen by INR 1,000/t w-o-w to INR 51,000/t landed Nepal.
Outlook: Domestic steel demand in Nepal may improve slightly in the upcoming days post the fog weather retreats.
With steel demand of roughly 2.5 mnt per annum, Nepal has been focusing a lot on reconstruction. The country’s construction sector is said to contribute 10-11% to its GDP. In addition, Nepal imports nearly 1-1.5 mnt of semi-finished steel and 1 mnt of finished steel annually (both flats and longs) with India being the largest supplier with a share of ~95%.
To know more about changing market dynamics in Nepal’s steel industry, book your seat at the 2nd Nepal Trade Summit, to be held on 1-2 March, 2023.
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