- Buyers adopt wait-and-watch attitude
- IF tags drop w-o-w amid weak buying
Trade-level blast furnace (BF) rebar prices dropped w-o-w across key Indian markets amid sluggish demand. Buyers preferred to wait and watch, expecting a further fall in prices in the near term. Additionally, tight supply still prevailed in some regions, and mills struggled to fulfil orders amid limited inventories at their yards, sourced informed BigMint.
Trade-level BF rebar prices edged down by INR 200/t ($2/t) w-o-w to INR 56,900/t ($666/t) exy in Mumbai, as per BigMint’s assessment on 25 April 2025. Prices are exclusive of GST at 18%.
In the projects segment, prices hovered at around INR 55,500-56,500/t ($650-661/t) FOR Mumbai. Demand in the projects segment was moderate.
Factors behind market dynamics
1. IF rebar prices drop w-o-w: Induction furnace (IF) rebar prices declined w-o-w across most markets due to subdued buying. However, Mumbai bucked this trend, with tags edging up by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 49,400/t ($578/t) exw on 25 April 2025.
Prices rose earlier in the week, driven by positive sentiment following the imposition of the safeguard duty, prompting buyers to secure significant volumes. However, as the week progressed, prices softened due to a lack of sustained demand at elevated tags. There was no inventory pressure on mills, with average holding periods of 7-8 days.
The BF-IF rebar price gap stood around INR 7,500/t ($88/t) in Mumbai, where IF rebars hold a dominant 65-70% market share.
2. Raw material prices increase w-o-w: BigMint’s Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index edged up by INR 50/t ($0.6/t) w-o-w to INR 5,250/t ($61/t) on 19 April 2025. Iron ore prices in eastern India remained largely stable amid active trading and steady demand. Market participants noted consistent offers from miners with decent deal volumes.
Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices increased by $7/t w-o-w to $199/t CNF Paradip.
Outlook
Trade prices may continue to trend down, as buying interest has been need based for some time, which has led sellers to reduce their offers.
Leave a Reply