Indian HRC-Rebar Spread Remains Reversed in H1 FY’25

The HRC-rebar spread reversed sharply again in September, 2024, after normalising in the preceding month, reveals BigMint data. Usually, hot rolled coils (HRCs) are sold at a premium to rebars. However, HRCs consistently remained priced lower m-o-m against rebar over April-July, then increased by a mere INR 300/t ($4/t) in August, only to decrease by a sharper INR 2,400/t ($29/t) in September. On an H1FY’25 basis, rebars were stronger at INR 54,000/t ($644/t) against HRC’s INR 51,880/t ($618/t). In September, the average benchmark trade-level HRC (IS2062, 2.5-8mm) price plunged to its lowest in four years to INR 48,000/t ($572/t) since near-about levels of INR 46,000/t ($548/t) were last seen in November 2020.