The weekly Davis Index for imported Honey brass Wednesday rose by Rs11,000/mt ($145.66/mt) to settle at Rs296,000/mt del Jamnagar consumer in line with an increase in the three-month official LME copper contracts. The three-month LME copper contract rose by $217.5/mt to settle at $5,680.5/mt on June 9, from the prior week.
Exporters rued of a drop in billet demand as manufacturers failed to gain a price hike from their Chinese buyers. Billet manufacturers are struggling with margin compression and had sought a revision in export prices as scrap prices headed northwards. The weekly Davis Index for Honey brass domestic origin (Vilayati) settled at Rs285,375/mt del Jamnagar consumer, up by Rs10,375/mt from the prior week.
In seaborne trades, Davis Index heard prices of UK-origin Honey imported scrapat $3,700/mt cfr India with Cu 60pc, up by $3,00/mt from $3,400/mt cfr India, last week. Honey imported scrap US-origin remained unchanged at $3,800/mt, up by $1,500/mt from the prior week. Traders have slowed down bookings at higher prices.
Brass billet exports were heard at $3,725-3,770/mt, flat for the last two weeks. Secondary brass manufacturers reported a 10-15pc return of demand. During the pandemic, manufacturers in Jamnagar exported brass billets (Cu 57pc) to China despite lower margin amid weak domestic demand.
Manufacturers have now stopped booking new orders with China and have decided to wait until LME copper prices stabilise. They claimed that Chinese buyers have already stocked up inventories taking advantage of the pandemic situation in India. With the improved availability of scrap in China, importers are reluctant to revise prices offered to Indian manufacturers.
The weekly Davis Index for imported Honey brass settled at Rs288,000/mt del Delhi consumer, up by Rs2,000/mt from the prior week.
The weekly Davis Index for Honey domestic origin (Purja) settled at Rs276,000/mt del Delhi consumer, up by Rs2,000/mt in line with the increase in LME three-month copper contract from the last week. Delhi traders said that despite raised offers manufacturers are keen to strike deals at lower rates amid weak end-user demand.
($1=Rs75.52)