Indian BF-route rebar trade prices fell sharply by INR 2,500/tonne (t) ($32/t) this week on the back of sluggish downstream demand and need-based buying by end-users in anticipation of further price correction. SteelMint’s BF-route rebar trade prices stand at INR 66,000-67,000/t ($848-861/t) exy-Mumbai basis, excluding GST at 18%.
Why have prices edged down?
Drop in export offers: Indian mills are offering rebar (B500B) for exports at $780/t CFR Hong Kong on actual weight (AW) basis, down by around $20/t w-o-w and by $125/t on a m-o-m basis.
Export offers have fallen due to competition from other exporting nations such as Middle East and Turkey. Middle East’s rebar offers stand at $750/t CFR Hong Kong on AW basis for July shipment.
Sluggish domestic demand: Demand from end-users continued to remain slack in anticipation of further price fall. “There are inquires but no trade because of volatility in prices,” said a source based in south-India.
Hence, market participants are delaying their purchases and only procuring a very limited quantity.
Buying preference towards IF-route rebar: “Since National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved secondary steel for some projects, buying interest for secondary material has also increased,” said a northern distributor. Currently, the gap between blast-furnace route rebar and induction furnace-route rebar is around INR 7,000/t, thus, demand for primary has dampened. As on 20 May 2022, IF-route (12-25mm, Fe500) rebar prices stand at INR 58,300-58,700/t ($749-754/t) exw-Mumbai basis, down INR 200/t on a d-o-d basis.
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