India: BigMint's billet index drops further by INR 150/t d-o-d - 14 Nov

BigMint's billet index fell further by INR 150/tonne (t) today to INR 39,300/t exw-Raipur on 14 November 2024.

The index underwent further correction today, mainly due to weak demand and slow buying activity across the country. Buyers were cautious, reflecting subdued market sentiment, which resulted in limited transactions in the semi-finished steel segment. However, Raipur saw some modest improvement in buying interest, primarily driven by lower spot offers.

This encouraged buyers to engage in need-based procurement, especially as prices appeared more favourable. Despite this slight uptick in Raipur, overall demand in the finished steel segment remained weak d-o-d.

In the finished steel market, rebar prices saw a significant correction of INR 500/t, while wire rod offers dropped by INR 400/t d-o-d. Additionally, sponge iron tags in Raipur declined by INR 300/t today.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets for standalone furnaces in the region was recorded at INR 13,550/t.

Rationale

This index has been derived based on transactions, offers, bids and indicative price data sets. Transactions are considered as T1 and given a weightage of 50%, whereas other data sets are considered as T2 and given a weightage of the balance 50%.

• Transactions (T1) - Three trades at INR 39,200-39,300/t were recorded during the 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm BigMint trading window and considered for final price calculation as T1 inputs. The average of these transactions was INR 39,300/t, which was given 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other price indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Seven offers were reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these seven was INR 39,337/t and given 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price of billets exw-Raipur was INR 39,318/t, rounded off to INR 39,300/t exw.

Click here for detailed methodology