Indian steel industry has performed fairly well in the first half (H1) of 2017, where the crude steel production surged by 5.73% and steel makers were aggressively involved in the exports.
Rising global steel prices due to absence of Chinese cargo boosted the demand for the cargoes originated from Indian. The exports of iron ore, billet, pig iron
and flat steel registered a substantial increase for the same duration.
However, due to implementation of provisional anti dumping duty on the wire rod and the definite anti dumping duty of hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) the imports declined in first half (H1) of 2017.
Prices in Domestic Market:
With above average demand in the domestic market, the domestic prices went up progressively for iron and steel products. For iron ore the offers went up by whooping 50% on half yearly basis in line with the surge in the sponge offers by 33.13%.
Coking coal and met coke offers also increased substantially in same duration due to increased demand by the Indian Steel Makers.
Domestic long steel prices went up by 15.61% and for flat steel the offers went up by 27.16%.
Production:
Crude steel production increased to 49.83 MnT in Jan-Jun’17 owing to rise in production by the large steel makers.
Import/Exports
Amid rise in global offers, the exports from India registered a sharp hike. Raw material (Iron ore and billet) exports jumped two folds in first half of the CY 2017 (Jan’17-Jun-17) to 19.67 MnT compared to 10.05 MnT for same duration in CY 2016. Pellet exports surged as the inquiries from the Chinese market increased.
Flat steel market registered a significant growth in the export to 5 MnT in CY 2017 (Jan’17-Jun’17) against 1.66 MnT in CY 2016 (Jan’16-Jun’16).
In the 2017 India has been actively exporting the billet and pig iron and the biggies like JSW, Vizag steel are the major names for exporting the billet in the South East Asian Countries due to rising global scrap offers and shortage of the material in the global market.
Coal Imports declined as imports were disturbed for two month i.e. Apr’-May’17 due to Debbie Cyclone in Australia.
Indian Steel Price Scenario: H1 CY17 Vs H
| Commodity | Delivery | Size/Grade | Unit Prices | HI FY17 | H1 FY16 | % Change | Remark |
| Iron Ore | NMDC (Chhattisgarh) | Lumps, 6-40mm, Fe 65% | INR/MT | 2,375 | 1,908 | 24.45% | Excluding Royalty |
| Iron Ore | NMDC (Chhattisgarh) | Fines, -10mm, Fe 64% | INR/MT | 2,135 | 1,635 | 30.58% | Excluding Royalty |
| Iron Ore | Odisha | Fines, Fe 63% | INR/MT | 1,381 | 1,329 | 3.92% | Ex-mines,Including Royalty |
| Iron Ore | Karnataka, Fines | Fe 58% | INR/MT | 2,014 | 1,339 | 50.48% | Weighted average bid price, Basic |
| Pellets | Ex- Barbil | 6-20mm,63% | INR/MT | 4,354 | 3,081 | 41.33% | Basic Prices, Loaded to Wagons |
| Scrap | Ex-Mumbai | HMS 80:20 | INR/MT | 20,400 | 16,000 | 27.50% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Scrap | CIF, Mumbai | HMS 80:20 (Europe) | USD/MT | 275 | 215 | 27.91% | |
| Met Coke | CFR India | 62% CSR | USD/MT | 291 | 147 | 97.96% | |
| Pig iron | Ex-Durgapur | Steel Grade | INR/MT | 22,250 | 17,800 | 25.00% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Sponge Iron(C-DRI) | Ex- Raipur | FeM 80 (+/-1) | INR/MT | 16,700 | 12,750 | 30.98% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Pellet Sponge | Ex- Raipur | FeM 80 (+/-1) | INR/MT | 15,450 | 11,600 | 33.19% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Billet | Ex- Mumbai | 100*100mm | INR/MT | 27,300 | 23,600 | 15.68% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Rebar | Ex-Mumbai | 12mm | INR/MT | 31,100 | 26,900 | 15.61% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Wire Rod | Ex-Raipur | 5.5mm | INR/MT | 30,200 | 26,900 | 12.27% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Structure | Ex-Mumbai | 40 Angle | INR/MT | 31,400 | 27,700 | 13.36% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| HR Coil | Ex-Mumbai | 2.5mm, IS 2062 | INR/MT | 41,178 | 33,198 | 24.04% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| HR Coil | CIF India | 2mm, SS 400 (China) | USD/MT | 493 | 369 | 33.60% | |
| HR Plates | Ex- Works | 5-10mm | INR/MT | 36,634 | 28,810 | 27.16% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| CR Coil | Ex-Mumbai | 0.9mm | INR/MT | 46,857 | 37,749 | 24.13% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| SiMn | Ex- Raipur | 60/14 | INR/MT | 61,300 | 46,900 | 30.70% | Basic Prices, Excluding GST at 18% |
| Import/Export Prices | |||||||
| Coking Coal | CNF India | Premimum HCC | USD/MT | 195 | 95 | 105.26% | Import prices to India |
| Pig iron | FoB India | Steel Grade | USD/MT | 305 | 222 | 37.39% | Export from to India to other Countries |
| Billet | FOB India | 150*150mm | USD/MT | 399 | 311 | 28.30% | |
Prices mentioned average prices in H1 CY17 and H1 CY16
Source: SteelMint Research
Import & Exports Statistics of Steel Products in India
| Production | Country | H1 CY 17* | H1 CY 16 | % Change |
| Crude Steel | India | 49.83 | 47.13 | 5.73 |
| Export | ||||
| Iron ore/Pellet | India | 19.67 | 10.05 | 95.70 |
| Pig Iron | India | 0.39 | 0.03 | |
| Billet/slab/blooms | India | 1.40 | 0.76 | 84.21 |
| Sponge Iron | India | 0.22 | 0.13 | 69.23 |
| Long Steel | India | 0.37 | 0.33 | 13.50 |
| Flat Steel | India | 5.00 | 1.66 | 201.20 |
| Si Mn | India | 0.38 | 0.26 | 44.23 |
| FeCr | India | 0.45 | 0.24 | 90.68 |
| FeMn | India | 0.08 | 0.07 | 17.86 |
| Import | ||||
| Iron ore/Pellet | India | 2.11 | 3.39 | -37.67 |
| Coking Coal | India | 23.80 | 23.56 | 1.02 |
| Non Coking Coal | India | 72.85 | 86.74 | -16.01 |
| Scrap | India | 2.00 | 3.36 | -40.48 |
| Long Steel | India | 0.21 | 0.23 | -7.53 |
| Flat Steel | India | 2.60 | 3.77 | -30.86 |
Fig in MnT
* Provisional Data
Sources: SteelMint Research, Customs and JPC

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