- Major mill announces interim price hike this week
- Demand from projects, exports firm
- Global plate prices on the rise
- Slow buying interest persists in traders’ market
Trade-level prices of HR plates (E250, 20-40mm) in the Mumbai market increased by INR 700/t ($8/t) w-o-w. This happened after a private producer announced an interim price hike on 20 February, 2023.
Subsequent to the announcement of the hike, list prices of HR plate (E250, 20-40mm) from AM/NS India have increased by INR 500/t ($6/t) to INR 67,500/t ($817/t) from 20 February.
List prices of SAIL hovered around INR 62,500/t ($756/t) and those of JSPL at INR 67,000/t ($810/t), unchanged since the announcement in the first week of February.
SteelMint’s weekly plate assessment stood at INR 62,500-63,500/t ($757-769/t) exy-Mumbai on 23 February.
On the other hand, prices of hot strip mill (HSM) plates (E250, 5-10mm) rose steeply by INR 1,200/t ($15/t) w-o-w to INR 60,000-61,000/t ($726,738/t) exy-Mumbai, taking a cue from the rebound in hot rolled coil (HRC) prices.
(INR 1 = USD 0.0121042 ; USD 1 = INR 82.6158 for the day ended 23 February)
However, trade channel participants continue to remain concerned about demand recovery in the traders’ market. A few distributors hinted at liquidity issues and delays in credit recovery as possible reasons for slower sales momentum.
Factors driving up HR plate prices:
- 1. Domestic project demand: Demand for plates has remained firm since the beginning of Q4FY2023 amid the government’s push to fasttrack project developments in infrastructure. The national highways network is being significantly broadened and the green energy segments, key consumers of HR plates, are witnessing rapid growth. Thus most mills have a full domestic order book, a distributor source said.
In January, the installed capacity for solar energy increased by 591 megawatts (MW) m-o-m to 63,894 MW. Capacity increased by 13,590 MW y-o-y. Similarly, 53 MW of wind power capacity was added taking the figure to 41,983 MW. 1,882 MW has been added since January 2022.
- Rising global plate prices: Global plate prices increased further this week. Export prices of Chinese-origin heavy plate (SS400) stood at $680/t FOB, an increase of $10/t w-o-w. Chinese steel major Baosteel increased domestic plate prices by around RMB 300/t ($44/t) for March sales a week back.
Indian mills have been scouting the European market for exports post the removal of 15% duty on 19 November. Meanwhile, PSU steel major SAIL has been manufacturing special-grade plates for supplies to the EU for March and April deliveries.
Moreover, the private steel majors are satisfied with their export order books which is filled till March. Mills are likely to start opening orders for mid-April export sales in the coming week, sources informed.
SAIL has recently declared an increase in the proportion of special steel plates in its overall saleable steel volumes from the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP). The proportion of special steel plates has risen to 73.6% in the April 2022- January 2023 period in comparison with 67.6% in the last fiscal.
Near-term outlook:
Trade market prices may increase in the near term amid anticipation of further improvement in demand from the major plate-consuming industries. The market is abuzz with the possibility of an increase in list prices by mills in early March.
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