India: BigMint's billet index increases by INR 450/t d-o-d amid limited buying - 20 Aug

BigMint's billet index increased by INR 450/tonne (t), settling at INR 39,000/t ex-works Raipur on 20 August, 2024.

The index saw a significant rise today, driven by a positive market trend and influences from neighboring markets, which kept offers higher in the semi-finished segment. Despite this, overall buying activity remained limited due to lower market participation. In contrast, a notable increase in buying for sponge iron supported a d-o-d rise in offerings.

Approximately 1,600 t of transactions were recorded today, compared to 700 t on 16 August.

In the finished steel segment, rebar prices rose by INR 400/t, with 1,300 t of deals concluded. Wire rod prices also increased by INR 500/t d-o-d, with 1,700 t of trades recorded. Additionally, sponge iron prices in Raipur rose by INR 400/t.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets for standalone furnaces in the region was recorded at INR 13,950/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 trade at INR 39,000-39,200/t was recorded between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm during the BigMint trading window and was considered for the final price calculation as T1 input. The average price of these transactions was INR 39,025/t, which was assigned a 50% weight in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other price indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Nine offers were reported during the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these nine offers was INR 39,000/t, which was assigned a 50% weight in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price of billets exw-Raipur was at INR 39,012/t, rounded off to INR 39,000/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology