India: SAIL-BSP's secondary steel auction receives moderate response, bids fall

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) had conducted an auction from its Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Chhattisgarh for defective steel products on 23 Mar'22. The bid prices for steel blooms dropped by INR 570/t ($7/t) against the previous auction conducted on 12 Mar'22. The drop in bid prices was largely in line with the decline in spot prices seen earlier this week.

At the auction, buyers booked around 6,713 t of bloom-cc at a weighted average price of INR 54,830/t exw compared to INR 55,400/t exw at the previous auction.

Around 2,150 t of plate side searing materials were also offered at the auction which were booked at INR 54,900/t exw.

As per the latest update, the company's management has approved all the above prices.

A total of 23,468 t of defective steel had been put up for auction out of which only 61.42%, i.e. 14,416 t got sold while the remaining 9,052 t was rejected by the company's management on expectation of a higher bid price.

SteelMint's daily billet (100mm, IF) index was assessed at INR 57,800/t exw-Raipur on 23 Mar'22. Limited buying interest in the finished steel market has further put pressure on billets prices.

Highlights:

Quantity in t
Prices in INR/t on exw-Bhilai basis