Iron ore & pellets:
- SteelMint’s weekly low-grade Indian iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index stood at $89/t FOB east coast India, marginally down by $1. Three confirmed trades for Indian low grade fines export were recorded by SteelMint having a total volume of around 200,000t during this publishing window.
- Indian iron ore imports for the fiscal FY ’21 were recorded at 0.38 mn t, dropping significantly by 68% as against 1.21 mn t in FY ’20. Costlier imports on higher global prices and preference to domestic ore, limited imports
- SAIL recorded robust iron ore sales of over 850,000 t during auctions in Mar ’21
Coal:
- Australian premium hard coking coal price decreased by $1.15/t to $111.50/t FoB as sellers failed to draw buying interest despite lower offers.
Scrap & Metallics:
- Benchmark sponge iron (P-DRI) prices dropped sharply by INR 400/t due to disparity between bids & offers
- Indian sponge iron export prices remained firm in recent deals. Around 10,000-12,000 t deals were reported by the Eastern India based exporters. As per them, the deal price was about $435/t CPT (equivalent to $450/t CFR Chittagong).
- Bangladesh based major steel mills have booked nearly three to four bulk scrap cargoes from US and Australia recently on restocking ahead of Ramadan holidays
- China’s largest EAF steelmaker- Shagang Steel has increased scrap purchase price by RMB 30/t ($5) for all grades. Price uptick in global scrap market along with a surge in Chinese domestic steel prices has led to this price hike
Semi-finished steel:
- SteelMint billet index dropped by INR 450/t on fewer trades
Finished steel:
- JSW Steel’s crude steel production aggregated to 15.08 mn t in FY ’21, down by 6% y-o-y as against 16.06 mn t owing to disruptions in production caused by the on-going pandemic.
- Vietnam’s domestic integrated steel mill- Formosa Ha Tinh is likely to announce a sharp hike in its monthly HRC offers for Jun ’21 deliveries. Revised offers for HRC (skin pass, SAE 1006) are expected to be around $890/t CIF basis, SteelMint learned from its sources in Vietnam.
Ferro Alloys:
- OMC is to conduct chrome ore auctions for 35,100 t on 13 Apr ’21. Ferrochrome prices fell by 10% m-o-m in Apr ’21, with expectations of a further fall as demand from China has dried up. We expect OMC to reduce base prices by around 20% in the upcoming auction.
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