Indian primary mills have rolled over list prices of rebars for early March 2023 sales, sources informed SteelMint. Subsequent to the revision, effective prices are:
- JSW Steel:
Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 63,000-63,500/t ($763-769/t), ex-Mumbai
Wire rods (5.5-6mm, SAE1008): INR 61,250/t ($742/t), ex-Mumbai - Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL):
Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 65,800/t ($797/t), ex-Delhi
Wire rods (5.5-6mm, SAE1008): INR 62,000/t ($751/t), ex-Delhi - Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL):
Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 63,000-64,000/t ($763-775/t), ex-Mumbai
Wire rods (5.5-6mm, SAE1008): INR 60,000-61,000/t ($727-739/t), ex-Mumbai - Prices are excluding GST at 18%.
Factors keeping prices unchanged:
1.Prices of raw materials: Prices of key steel making raw materials i.e, iron ore and coking coal increased in February as compared to January.
Prices of iron ore fines (Fe-63%) remained largely stable since the beginning of February. However, the same has increased by INR 250/t ($3/t) to INR 6,000/t w-o-w ($73/t) ex-mines as on 25 February from INR 5,750/t ($70/t) in the previous week.
SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines Fe 63% index rose by INR 420/t ($5/t) m-o-m to a monthly average of INR 5,810/t ($70/t) ex-mines in February 2023 as against INR 5,390/t ($65/t) in January 2023.
The weekly average prices of Australian-origin premium hard coking coal (HCC) dropped by $3/t w-o-w to $393/t CNF India for the week ending 25 February 2023.
Coking coal prices started to decline since last week of February and have registered a drop of around $38/t to $364/t CNF India as assessed on 25 February from $402/t seen on 21 February. Improvements in supplies have resulted in fall in prices as logistical bottlenecks have eased. Moreover, buyers opted for the sideline as prices started falling.
2. Infrastructure & construction demand: Property registrations in country’s largest real estate market, Mumbai, rose by 7% on the month to 9,268 units in February 2023 as compared to 8,694 units in the month ago period, as per data released by Knight Frank India. In addition, demand from infrastructure and construction segment is likely to remain supported this month as this being the last month of the fiscal year. Further, construction projects generally pick up pace during this time as they need to stick to completion timelines.
3. IF-route rebars prices: IF-route rebars trade prices remained largely stable at INR 56,000/t ($678/t), exw-Mumbai, since last week of February amid firm buying interest. Prices remained rangebound m-o-m with average prices of February at INR 56,900/t ($689/t), inching down from INR 57,100/t ($692/t) seen a month ago. An Increasing gap between BF or IF-route rebars is one of the prime reasons for primary steelmakers to keep their prices unchanged. It is to be noted here that IF-route rebars enjoy 65-70% of the market share in India.
The monthly average gap between BF-IF route rebars stands at around INR 6,000-6,500/t ($73-79/t) in February 2023 as against INR 3,000-3,500/t ($36-42/t) in the month ago period.
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