Ingot and billet prices moved up on Tuesday amid healthy demand in major secondary steel markets in India.
The daily Davis Indexes for billet and rebar in Raipur on Tuesday rose to Rs33,700/mt ($462.36/mt) and Rs38,600/mt ($529.59/mt) ex-works, respectively, amid healthy steel demand driven by restocking by mills and traders. Pellet Sponge offers rose to Rs23,300/mt ex-works Raipur.
Market participants are of the view that domestic steel prices tested the bottom last week and they expect prices to recovery as demand picks up. Traders and retailers have resumed restocking, said sources to Davis Index.
In Mumbai, the daily index for billet rose to Rs36,000/mt and while rebar was flat at Rs42,500/mt ex-works from Monday amid healthy demand from construction projects and stockists.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot rose by Rs600/mt to Rs36,500/mt in sync with a rise in domestic scrap prices, while in Ludhiana, ingot increased by Rs1,500/mt to Rs36,700/mt.
In eastern India, the bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs500/mt to Rs34,000/mt ex-works Durgapur on Tuesday compared to last Thursday, while rebar increased by Rs1,000/mt to Rs39,000/mt ex-works.
However, in south India, rebar prices continued to fall. The bi-weekly index for rebar fell by Rs2,000/mt to Rs40,000/mt ex-works adding to the last week’s drop by the same amount. From mid-Jan (Jan 19), rebar prices in Chennai have lost Rs9,500/mt.The bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs1,000/mt to Rs35,000/mt on stable demand. Secondary steel mills expect some relief from the 2.5pc customs duty cut on steel scrap, but due to wider disparity between imported and domestic scrap prices, mills still prefer local scrap.
Prices in the western Indian city of Jalna appreciated on Tuesday. The bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs500/mt to Rs35,500/mt ex-works Jalna from last Thursday, while rebar soared by Rs1,400/mt to Rs42,400/mt ex-works.
The bi-weekly index for rebar in Kutch, Tuesday, fell by Rs100/mt to Rs40,900/mt from Thursday, while the index from billet gained Rs1,200/mt to Rs36,000/mt.
($1=Rs72.88)