Ingot and billet prices remained bullish on Friday in secondary market due to higher input cost along with healthy export bookings.
India’s state-owned steelmaker, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) has booked over 300,000mt of steel export in June, including billet/bloom, pig iron, wire rod. The company expects export volume to reach 552,000mt by the end of Q1 FY22.
The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur increased by Rs300/mt ($4/mt) to settle at Rs43,200/mt ($591/mt) ex-works on Friday with buyers accepting increased prices. Some billet deals were reported at Rs43,100-43,300/mt ex-works. The price rise is also supported by rise in Mandi Gobindgarh market.
Most of the steel mills are quite active in export market to compensate for sluggish demand in the domestic market. The exports and the higher input costs are most likely to support domestic long product prices in June.
Offers for pellet sponge were up by Rs500/mt to Rs31,200/mt ex-works. The daily index for rebar up Rs100/mt at Rs46,600/mt ex-works Raipur with deals reported at current level.
In Mumbai, the daily index for billet increased by Rs500/mt at Rs44,000/mt ex-works following rise in rebar prices and the index for rebar was up by Rs200/mt at Rs47,900/mt ex-works despite moderate demand.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot was up by Rs350/mt to Rs46,800/mt ex-works, in line with rise in local scrap prices.
($1= Rs73.07)