Ingot and billet prices declined on Thursday in India amid limited deals. The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur dropped by Rs500/mt ($7/mt) to Rs37,800/mt ($571/mt) ex-works. Billet prices have declined by Rs800-900/mt in the last three days.
Pellet Sponge offers were at Rs27,000/mt ($371/mt) ex-works with buyers largely silent. The index for rebar falls by Rs500/mt at Rs42,200/mt ($580/mt) ex-works Raipur on sluggish demand.
Market participants believe most large steel mills are under pressure to meet sales targets for the year ending in March and thus are incentivizing sales. Discounts on long products are likely to reflect in the secondary market as well.
In Mumbai, the daily index for billet decreased by Rs800/mt to Rs40,800/mt ex-works as supply exceeded demand, while the index for rebar remained flat at Rs46,600/mt ex-works. In Jalna, the bi-weekly index for billet decreased by Rs500/mt to Rs41,000/mt ex-works from Tuesday, while the index for rebar unchanged to Rs47,000/mt ex-works.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot drops by Rs600/mt to Rs39,700/mt ex-works inline with a fall in local scrap prices. In Ludhiana, the bi-weekly index for ingot fell by Rs800/mt to Rs39,700/mt ex-works from Tuesday.
($1=Rs72.76)