SteelMint

India: BF-rebar trade tags rangebound w-o-w; market waiting for mills’ price announcements for May’25

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by

Suyash Jain
in
  • Rebar prices inch down by INR 100/t w-o-w
  • IF rebar prices dip w-o-w amid need-based buying
Trade-level blast furnace (BF) rebar prices in key domestic markets remained largely rangebound over the week, as demand in the spot market continued to remain need-based. Market participants have adopted a cautious approach, opting to wait for clarity on mill pricing for May 2025.
Trade-level BF rebar prices edged down by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 56,800/t ($673/t) exy-Mumbai, as per BigMint’s assessment on 2 May 2025. Prices are exclusive of GST at 18%.
In the projects segment, prices remained stable w-o-w at around INR 55,500-56,500/t ($658-669/t) FOR Mumbai.
Market dynamics

1. IF rebar prices drop w-o-w: Induction Furnace (IF) rebar trade prices fell w-o-w amid slow trade activities across markets. Manufacturers either kept their list prices stable or reduced and offered discounts amid weak market sentiments. Buying inquiries were also limited during the week. Price of billet and sponge iron fluctuated in a narrow range, while buying at higher prices was limited. There was no inventory pressure on mills, with average holding periods of 7-8 days. IF-rebar trade prices dropped by INR 400/t ($5/t) w-o-w to INR 49,000/t ($581/t) exw-Mumbai as on 2 May.

The BF-IF rebar price gap stood at INR 7,500-8,000/t ($89-95/t) in Mumbai; IF rebars hold a dominant 65-70% market share.

2. Raw material prices rise w-o-w: BigMint’s Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index edged up by INR 50/t ($6/t) w-o-w to INR 5,300/t ($63/t) on 26 April. Odisha’s iron ore market remained steady despite downstream volatility, as steelmakers continued active buying post-OMC auction. Auction prices for fines and lumps stayed mostly unchanged m-o-m, indicating stable demand-supply conditions, according to market participants.

India’s largest merchant iron ore miner, NMDC, has raised prices of DR CLO (Fe 67%) to INR 7,210/t ($85/t) and fines (Fe 64%) to INR 5,500/t ($65/t), up by INR 140/t ($2/t) and INR 440/t ($5/t), respectively. Prices are FOR Bacheli and include royalty, DMF, and NMET charges.

Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices increased by $5/t w-o-w to $204/t CNF Paradip.

Outlook
Market participants expect that prices are likely to be rolled over for this month and are currently awaiting further price clarity which is expected to emerge by next week.

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