India: SteelMint's billet index drops INR 250/t d-o-d amid sluggish finished steel demand - 19 June

SteelMint's daily steel billet index has dropped by INR 250/tonne (t) d-o-d to INR 43,850/t exw-Raipur on 19 June, 2023.

Weak demand and sluggish sales in the finished steel market have weighed on the billet index. Buyers made bookings only to meet the immediate requirement as participants were concerned about a dull finished steel outlook.

Transactions of around 2,700 t of billets were recorded today as against 2,530 t on 17 May.

Meanwhile, rebar prices inched down by INR 100/t d-o-d and wire rod prices slipped by INR 200/t d-o-d. On a similar note, sponge iron prices moved down slightly by INR 150/t d-o-d.

Deals of around 500 t of wire rods and 800 t of rebars were recorded.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets for the standalone furnaces in the region was recorded at INR 16,100/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) - Four trades at INR 43,800/t were recorded during the 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm SteelMint trading window and considered for final price calculation as T1 inputs. The average of these transactions was INR 43,800/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Seven offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these seven was INR 42,883/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 43,842/t, rounded to INR 43,850/t exw.

T1 - Trade, T2 - Offer/Bid/Indicative, *Normalized price as per methodology