SteelMint’s domestic steel scrap (end-cutting) index is stable at INR 39,700/t DAP Mandi Gobindgarh on 15 November, 2022. The price of domestic melting scrap, however, fell to its lowest level since April.
Mandi-based mills increased semis prices to encourage sellers to sell scrap due to a shortage of melting scrap in Punjab. However, no results were seen.
Mandi ingots opened on a positive note this morning at INR 45,500/t, but later slipped to INR 45,100/t at the time of report and price normalisation.
“Inventories of semis is increasing day by day at mills as a very poor sales situation has resulted in most furnaces operating 12 hours a day,” a Mandi mill source said.
“There is a real effort by scrap sellers to stabilise the market. The price is going down but in a limited way. Prices may go down further by INR 500-700/t,” another trade source pointed out.
Snapshots of other markets
In terms of finished steel sales, Jalna’s performance is below par. If a mill produces 1,000 t of rebars daily, they sell about 300-400 t in the market and the rest gets stored as inventory. In the near term, retailers expect the downward trend to continue. Mills reduced scrap prices today. Jalna-based mills reduced around INR 1,000/t for HMS(80:20).
In the Chennai market, semis prices decreased by INR 200/t to INR 46,500/t DAP, while scrap prices are down by INR 500/t. Continuous arrival of imported scrap at lower prices may support the decline in domestic prices, SteelMint learnt from sources. Liquidity issues are also pressing in the market, and large projects are yet to commence.
Market highlights-
End-cutting and billet spread: In Mandi, the end-cutting scrap and billets spread remained unchanged today at INR 6,000/t.
Domestic and imported scrap price gap: Imported melting scrap prices at Nhava Sheva Port were at around $380-385/t (including freight, which comes to approximately INR 34,100/t), while local scrap – HMS (80:20) – prices in Mumbai were assessed at INR 34,500/t.
Raipur sponge iron-billet spread: The current conversion spread (margins) from pellet-based DRI (P-DRI) to steel billets in Raipur stands at around INR 13,400/t.
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