The spread between benchmarked hot rolled coils (HRCs) and blast furnace-route rebar widened to a five-month high, at INR 2,500/t tonne (t) ($30/t), in January 2024, reveals BigMint data. The gap widened mainly on account of the sharper fall in rebar prices compared to hot rolled coils (HRCs). The benchmark blast furnace-route (BF-route) rebar, ex-Mumbai, fell a deeper, almost 4% in January to INR 51,800/t ($624/t) compared to INR 53,800/t ($648/t) in December, 2023. On the other hand, the trade-level HRC, ex-Mumbai, fell a tad less, by around 1.50% to INR 54,300/t ($654/t) from INR 55,100/t ($664/t) in the preceding month.
