India: Manufacturers keep Plate Prices unchanged for May

Plate manufacturers have rolled over their prices for May. SAIL, Essar & JSPL kept their prices unchanged for the month as steel industry struggles with poor demand.

Talking to SteelMint, one of the officials of JSPL said, “We have kept Plate prices unchanged for now as we haven’t seen any major demand recovery. Currently, we are executing our old orders and haven’t started to book new ones.”

It is learned from some market sources that trading prices of Plates have seen minor increment to the tune of INR 200-300/MT which is quite neglible for the consumers. Traders believe that poor demand in domestic market will resist manufacturers from raising prices in near term.

Similarly, Essar, one of the primary manufacturers of Plate has kept its prices unchanged for this month. A senior spokesperson from Essar said, “We have rolled over our spot prices for the month of May as the industry has been struggling with a tepid demand.”

Plate demand has slowed down significantly on account of slumping infrastructure projects. There is a modest demand from the Pipeline sector and yellow goods manufacturers, said the official from JSPL.

As per market sources, SAIL has also maintained its prices at previous levels. One of the Plate traders based in Kolkata said, “Prices of Plates are kept constant for the month. Demand from government related projects are at all time low. Currently, we are only getting orders from specific projects in the private sector.”

Competition in the Export Market

The dull demand in the domestic economy was a good opportunity for manufacturers to export for better realizations, but this has not been the case. An Industry veteran commented, “China has been able to provide Plates at very competitive rates. Commercial grade Plates from China are even offered to UAE at around USD 510-520 FoB China, as per trade sources. This has been a growing concern for Indian Plate manufacturers.”

A comparison of Plate prices of SAIL & JSPL is as under: