Ingot and billet prices remained firm on higher input costs on Tuesday. The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur remained unchanged at Rs38,500/mt ($531/mt) ex-works with sparse trading being reported.
Billet suppliers are unwilling to reduce prices amid high Sponge iron ore prices along with high billet prices in the other main Eastern India market i.e. Durgapur. However, buyers were targeting lower prices in the range of Rs38,200-38,300/mt but no deal materialized.
Pellet Sponge offers stayed firm at Rs27,300/mt ($377/mt) ex-works Raipur. The daily index for rebar settled unchanged at Rs42,400/mt ($585/mt) ex-works Raipur despite moderate demand.
In Mumbai, the indexes for billet and rebar was flat at Rs41,000/mt and Rs46,700/mt ex-works, respectively. In Jalna, the bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs400/mt to Rs40,700/mt ex-works from last Thursday on rise in local scrap prices, while rebar remained flat at Rs47,000/mt ex-works. A few steel mills in Jalna noted that demand was quite robust on Monday but has cooled off a day later.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the index for ingot dipped by Rs100/mt to Rs40,600/mt ex-works. In Ludhiana, the bi-weekly index for ingot fell by Rs500/mt to Rs40,000/mt ex-works on Tuesday from last Thursday.
In Durgapur, the bi-weekly index for billet surged by Rs900/mt to Rs39,900/mt ex-works due to good export demand. The index for rebar increased by Rs200/mt to Rs44,000/mt ex-works.
($1=Rs72.51)