- Improved sponge iron, finished trade bolsters sentiment
- Buyers turn cautious amid persistent billet price hikes
BigMint’s billet index recorded a sharp d-o-d rise of INR 650/tonne (t) on 25 July 2025, settling at INR 38,150/t exw-Raipur. Although the market witnessed modest buying today, prices surged, driven by improved buying momentum in sponge iron and finished steel segments, leading producers to push spot offers higher across key markets.
Spot offers increased, influenced by trends in neighbouring markets. Finished steel prices surged d-o-d across Raipur, triggering a bullish sentiment that supported billet tags.
However, buying activity remained modest today. The continuous rise in semi-finished and raw material prices made buyers cautious, many of whom had already booked ample material in earlier sessions at lower levels.
Additionally, despite price hikes for finished steel, these elevated rates have not been fully absorbed downstream. This also led buyers to adopt a “wait-and-watch” approach amid steep price increases.
Market snapshot
- Rebar: Prices surged INR 1,000/t d-o-d, with deals for approximately 1,500 t confirmed.
- Wire rod: Prices rose by INR 500/t, with deals for approximately 800 t concluded.
- Sponge iron: Prices increased sharply by INR 750/t, despite cautious buying.
The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets in the Raipur induction furnace cluster narrowed further to INR 12,700/t, indicating squeezed margins due to rising input costs.
Rationale
This index is derived based on transactions, offers, bids, and indicative price data sets. Transactions are considered T1 and given a weightage of 50%, whereas other data sets are considered as T2 and given a weightage of the balance 50%.
- Transactions (T1) – Five trades at INR 38,100-38,200/t were recorded during the 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm BigMint trading window and considered for final price calculation as T1 inputs. The average of these transactions was INR 38,158/t, which was given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
- Other price indicators – bids/offers/indicatives (T2) – Twelve offers were reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these twelve was INR 38,178/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
The final price of billets was INR 38,168/t exw-Raipur, rounded off to INR 38,150/t exw.
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