India: BF-route rebar prices drop by INR 700/t ($9/t) w-o-w amid slow demand
...
Trade-level blast furnace (BF)-route rebar prices continued to decline across major markets against previous week's assessment. This was followed by price announcement by leading steel mills earlier this week. The current list prices for early-May were in the range of INR 57,500-58,500/t ($700-712/t) on landed basis, excluding GST at 18%.
Current rebar trade segment prices fell by INR 700/t ($9/t) w-o-w to INR 57,400/t ($699/t), exy-Mumbai, as per SteelMint's assessment on 12 May. Similar price levels were last seen on 30 December, 2022.
Factors weighing on offers:
1. Raw material prices continue to fall: Prices of iron ore remained stable w-o-w. Meanwhile, coking coal prices continued to remain under pressure.
For instance, SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines Fe 63% index remained unchanged w-o-w at INR 5,900/t ($72/t) ex-mines as on 6 May 2023.
Australian premium hard coking coal (HCC) prices dropped by $13/t w-o-w to a weekly average of $248/t CNF India for the week ending 6 May compared to $261/t last week.
2. IF route rebar prices: Demand for induction furnace (IF)-route rebars improved with good trade volumes in the market following an increase in prices of semi-finished steel products like billet. This has supported price levels during the period. IF-route rebar trade prices inched up by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to weekly average of INR 53,100/t ($646/t), exw-Mumbai.
The price gap between BF-IF route rebars narrowed to INR 3,500-4,000/t ($43-49/t) as on 12 May, against INR 5,000-5,500/t ($61-67/t) last month.
3. Global steel makers cut prices: China's Shagang Steel has slashed its rebar prices for the second time this month by RMB 100/t ($14/t) to RMB 4,000/t ($576/t), ex-mill, including VAT for mid-May.
This marks price cut for the fourth consecutive time which comes amid sluggish demand and falling global steel prices.
Outlook
In the projects segment, offers were heard around INR 57,000-58,000/t ($694-706/t) FOR Mumbai. There has been a slight improvement in demand from projects segment. Meanwhile, prices have been on downtrend.
