Billet recorded further price correction with healthy trade volume on Tuesday. The daily Davis Index for billet in Mumbai dropped by Rs600/mt ($8/mt) to Rs38,800/mt ($535/mt) ex-works on Tuesday. A few billet deals were reported at the index price as trading began at good pace after a gap of two working days.
Re-rolling mills showed interest in purchasing material after offers cooled down. Billet suppliers are unlikely to reduce offers further as scrap market’s bullish trend continued. The index for rebar remained flat at Rs44,700/mt ($617/mt) ex-works Mumbai with limited trades.
In Jalna, billet and rebar prices maintained uptrend amid higher local scrap prices. The bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs500/mt to Rs39,500/mt ex-works on Tuesday compared to last Thursday, while rebar remained unchanged at Rs45,000/mt ex-works.
In Raipur, the daily index for billet decreased by Rs600/mt at Rs36,400/mt ex-works with limited trades. Pellet Sponge offers were at Rs25,100/mt ex-works with no takers. The index for rebar was down by Rs500/mt at Rs41,000/mt ex-works Raipur due to sluggish rebar sales.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the index for ingot dropped by Rs600/mt to settle at Rs39,200/mt ex-works in line with fall in local scrap prices. In Ludhiana, the bi-weekly index for ingot was up by Rs300/mt to Rs39,300/mt ex-works from last week.
In Chennai, the bi-weekly indexes for billet and rebar on Tuesday increased by Rs1,000/mt each to Rs40,000/mt and Rs45,000/mt ex-works, respectively, compared to last Thursday. A few billet suppliers said local steel prices are unlikely to fall in the near term because of higher imported scrap prices.
($1=Rs72.52)