NCDEX (National Commodity Exchange Ltd) is set to re-launch its steel long futures contract w.e.f April, 2014. According to company officials, this contract is similar to the previous one, with two delivery centers namely Raipur & Wada (Mumbai). Contract has been named as STEELCOMM (Ex-Wada). Exchange has got clearance from Forward Markets Commissions (FMC) on 24 Mar, 2014.
Exchange had previously suspended its steel long (Ex-Ghaziabad) contract in 2012, when Steel Ministry made BIS quality mandate for secondary steel manufacturers (later government extended it’s order). Exchange then introduced steel long contract with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) specification Ex-Mandi Gobindgarh basis.
With most of Ingot/Billet manufacturers still making commercial grade, exchange is set to launch commercial grade contract.
Modification in Contract for Steel Long Commercial
- Benchmark price will be considered at Ex-Wada (Mumbai)
- Will have only 2 delivery centers i.e. Raipur & Wada
- Exchange charges will be less than the previous contracts
BIS mandatory from 1 Apr, 2014 – All India Induction Furnace Association
According to All Indian Induction Furnace Association (AIIFA), BIS will be mandatory for a provision of penalty and prosecution for the defaulters.
For this, AIIFA met the officials of Ministries and tried to convenience to consider the genuine issues of Induction Furnace industries and requested to first provide some necessary basic infrastructure and R&D to Induction Furnaces units before implementing the order.
In order to review the status of implementation of the Steel Quality Control order, a meeting was held on 6Mar 2014, under the Chairmanship of Shri U P Singh, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Steel. During the meeting, AIIFA again requested for further date extension of the implementation in view of the major issues.
- BIS authorities have not granted licenses particularly in Rajasthan (Jaipur/Bhiwadi)
- Centralized laboratories have not been setup, required for small re-rolling mill & IF units
- High Phosphorus remains a problem in the Induction Furnace units
Mr Kamal Aggarwal, Sr VP, AIIFA, told SteelMint that BIS will be mandatory for all semi finished products coming under IS:2830 category, however IS:2831 has been exempted from BIS mandate. He also mentioned that association has put its concern to Steel Ministry and will try to get the extension.
He explains that according to BIS standards Sulphur & Phosporus content has to be below 0.1, which is not possible for Induction units using Sponge as their melting source.
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