During Aug’16, Indian billet offers remained under pressure as demand was not much supportive amid off sales season.
On monthly average basis, Indian billet prices fell slightly by INR 100-600/MT (upto 3%) in Aug’16. However, a steep price corrections of upto INR 1,500/MT (7%) were recorded in Jul’16.
In the month of Aug’16, both rolling mills and induction furnaces were operational for limited hours, which led to subdued seasonal off-take and in turn reduced prices in billet market.
Besides, heavy rainfall in east, north and west India broke the billet supply chain in domestic market, which increased the selling pressure on suppliers. As a result, conversion spread (margins) between C-DRI and billet hit lowest level of INR 7,000/MT in Aug’16, which generally used to be INR 8,500-9,000/MT, reported the manufacturers.
Major price corrections of INR 400-600/MT (2-3%) were seen in Hyderabad and Chennai, followed by Raipur, Durgapur and Rourkela (INR 100-150/MT). However, there was no price corrections reported in Mumbai.
MS billet monthly average prices since Jan’16
| Month | Durgapur | M-o-M | Raipur | M-o-M | Rourkela | M-o-M | Mumbai | M-o-M | Chennai | M-o-M |
| Jan’16 | 21,100 | 620 | 21,250 | 300 | 20,550 | 720 | 22,900 | 150 | 22,250 | 850 |
| Feb’16 | 21,500 | 400 | 21,950 | 700 | 20,750 | 200 | 23,850 | 950 | 23,050 | 800 |
| Mar’16 | 22,300 | 800 | 22,650 | 700 | 21,500 | 750 | 24,450 | 600 | 25,550 | 2500 |
| Apr’16 | 22,650 | 350 | 22,550 | -100 | 21,750 | 250 | 24,450 | 0 | 25,700 | 150 |
| May’16 | 21,750 | -900 | 21,550 | -1,000 | 20,850 | -900 | 23,250 | -1,200 | 24,150 | -1550 |
| Jun’16 | 20,600 | -1,150 | 21,000 | -550 | 20,100 | -750 | 22,650 | -600 | 22,200 | -1950 |
| Jul’16 | 19,750 | -850 | 19,900 | -1,100 | 19,100 | -1,000 | 21,450 | -1,200 | 22,050 | -150 |
| Aug’16 | 19,650 | -100 | 19,750 | -150 | 18,950 | -150 | 21,450 | 0 | 21,450 | -600 |
Basic prices in INR/MT
Sources: SteelMint Research
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