Ingot and billet prices continued to stay high due to rise in Sponge iron and local scrap prices on Wednesday. The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur rose by Rs700/mt ($10/mt) to Rs41,200/mt ($569/mt) ex-works. Furnaces are not ready to sell billet below offer price due to high Sponge iron prices. Billet booking was quite healthy on Tuesday but it has been moderate at increased prices on Wednesday.
Pellet Sponge offers increased to Rs28,600/mt ($395/mt) ex-works Raipur with very few takers. Few sponge iron (70:30) deals were also reported at Rs29,400/mt ($406/mt) del Raipur. The daily index for rebar increased by Rs400/mt ($6/mt) to Rs44,600/mt ($616/mt) ex-works Raipur.
In Mumbai, the index for billet remained unchanged at Rs42,500/mt ex-works. The index for rebar increased by Rs100/mt to Rs47,700/mt ex-works on sustained demand. Steel mills also claim that there is low availability of material due to over-booking in the last few days.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the index for ingot increased by Rs500/mt to Rs42,200/mt ex-works, in line with the increase in local scrap prices.
($1=Rs73.59)