Ingot and billet prices were largely stable despite improved buying on Thursday. The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur was flat at Rs41,200/mt ($561/mt) ex-works with deals reported at index price. Few billet suppliers stayed away from selling due to the two-day bank holiday on April 1-2.
Due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, some state governments are expected to impose restrictions which could this could impact trade in the near term. Mills expect ingot, billet and rebar prices to remain high on the back of recent increase in iron ore prices in Odisha and higher Sponge iron prices in Raipur and Bellary.
Pellet Sponge offers increased to Rs29,200-29,500/mt ($397-401mt) ex-works Raipur with no takers. The daily index for rebar increased by Rs400/mt ($5/mt) to Rs45,000/mt (613/mt) ex-works Raipur.
In Mumbai, the indexes for billet and rebar remained unchanged at Rs42,500/mt and Rs47,700/mt ex-works, respectively.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the index for ingot increased by Rs200/mt to Rs42,400/mt ex-works, in line with the increase in local scrap prices.
In Chennai, the bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs500/mt to Rs43,500/mt following rise in rebar prices. The index for rebar was up by Rs1,000/mt to Rs48,000/mt ex-works on Thursday from Tuesday.
($1=Rs73.44)