India’s state-owned steelmaker Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) or Vizag Steel has revised prices for July deliveries. The company has also offered volume discounts on some products to stimulate sales.
“RINL is providing discounts on some steel products depending on purchase quantity. The net price cut would be around Rs1,000/mt for rebar from the previous month. In early June, the company had rollover prices for all its long steel products,” said a RINL dealer based in Chennai.
Primary steel players are facing margin pressure as NMDC raised iron ore prices by Rs200/mt in early July, but finished steel prices continue to decline amid subdued steel demand. The arrival of monsoon and the resultant slowdown in construction activities along with an acute shortage of labour are adding to steel mills’ woes.
In the international market, iron ore prices stayed over to $100/mt cfr China driven by healthy demand from China. In Apr-May, ore traded at $80-85/mt as Brazilian miner Vale suspended operations after its workers contracted COVID-19.
RINL produces long products and caters to the construction, manufacturing and automobile sectors. RINL has an installed capacity to produced 7.3mn mt steel per annum.
| RINL’s steel prices for July | ||||
| Product (ex-Vizag) | Grade | July’20 | June’20 | % change |
| Billet 125*125mm | IS 2830 | 34,500 | 34500 | – |
| Rebar 8mm | IS 1786 Fe 500D | 38,900 | 40,400 | -4% |
| Wire rod 5.5mm | HC50-HC85 | 36,400 | 39,400 | -8% |