Nepal’s domestic rebar prices stable on limited demand

Domestic rebar offers in Nepal were stable this week on account of limited demand alongside fluctuating Indian steel prices.

Demand was slightly weak compared to the last week as lifting of finished steel products from traders end remained slow due to prevailing liquidity crunch in the country. This impacted demand of manufacturers, Kathmandu-based sources informed.

Rebar offers from standalone mid-sized rolling mills for 10-20 mm were reported at around NPR 82,000/tonne ($680/t), while offers of premium brands were at about NPR 85,000/t ($705). Prices are on ex-works basis and excluding VAT.

Import trade log

• Compared to last week, demand for raw materials like sponge iron, billets and wire rod remained slightly weaker.
• Offers for BF-route billets from India were stable at around $595-600/t CPT Nepal, while enquiries remained active with a couple of deals under negotiation, sources informed SteelMint.
• Deals for a few lots of IF-route billets were reported at around $550-555/t exw-Durgapur, while fresh offers stood at $565-570/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $590-595/t CPT Nepal. Prices moved up by $20-25/t, w-o-w.
• Offers for mid-scale mills’ wire rods rose further by $20/t, w-o-w, and currently stand at $620-625/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $645-650/t CPT Nepal. Small deals were reported in mid-week at around $615/t exw-Durgapur, via road delivery.
• BF-route wire rod offers dropped further by $20/t, w-o-w, to $675-680/t CPT Nepal. However, majority of buyers were still avoiding bookings of BF-route material amidst sufficient stock.
• Sponge iron deals of around 5,000 t were reported this week as against about 8,000-10,000 t last week. The latest deals for iron ore-based DRI (lumps 100%, FeM 81-82%) were reported at around $445-450/t CPT Nepal.

Statistics

Between 16 Nov-15 Dec’21, Nepal’s steel imports grew by upto 32%, m-o-m.

• Imports of sponge iron (DRI) stood at 31,050 t this month, rising by 5% m-o-m.
• Wire rod imports were recorded at 21,350 t, up by 32% m-o-m.
• Billet imports were more or less stable m-o-m with 62,950 t this month.

Outlook

Domestic steel prices in Nepal are less likely to fall looking at fluctuating Indian steel prices and demand in the local market. However, if Indian steel prices rise rebound, steel demand in Nepal may see an improvement resulting in a slight uptick in domestic steel prices.