Secondary steel mills in Central India received healthy rebar orders as trades improved on Thursday after a long gap of more than a month amid the COVID-19 lockdown imposed since the March 25. The market expects the lockdown to be lifted from most areas on May 3.
Demand for rebar has returned to markets. Mills in Raipur received orders from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. Many mills will restart early next week. In Raipur, the daily Davis Index for rebar increased by Rs200/mt ($2.66/mt) to Rs31,700/mt ($422.10/mt) ex-works. The daily index for billet remained flat at Rs26,500/mt ($352.86/mt) ex-works Raipur.
In Mumbai, the daily Davis Index for rebar remained unchanged at Rs34,300/mt ($456.72/mt) ex-works Mumbai. Market participants are expecting rebar prices to remain firm till production resumes as stocks are limited. The index for billet remained unchanged at Rs28,700/mt ($382.15/mt) ex-works.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot remained unchanged at Rs29,800/mt ($396.8/mt) ex-works.
Large steel mills in India, which are operational, including Jindal Steel, Sail, Vizag Steel are receiving healthy demand for semi-finished steel from China and other Southeast Asian countries. Davis Index heard Steel Authority of India’s (Sail) Durgapur and IISCO units received bulk export orders for steel billets at around $360-370/mt cfr China this week.
($1= Rs75.10)