India: SteelMint's billet index falls by INR 350/t amid weak demand - 21 Dec

SteelMint's billet index declined by INR 350/tonne to INR 39,800/t exw-Raipur on 21 December, 2023.

The billet index saw a significant decline today, owing to lower offerings from sellers and stiff competition from nearby markets in the semi-finished and finished long steel segments. Buyers, on the other hand, went cautious and kept a careful watch on the market's downward movement, slow buying activity resulted a notable decrease in the trade volume d-o-d.

Approximately 1,600 t of billet deals were concluded, against 2,160 t on 20 December.

SteelMint's daily rebar price assessments remained consistent, with 900 t of trades recorded. Wire rod prices fell by INR 300/t, with a 500 t deal noted. Meanwhile, the price of sponge iron in Raipur has dropped by INR 150/tonne.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets of the standalone furnaces in Raipur was recorded at INR 12,950/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 trades at INR 39,750-39,800/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 39,778/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Thirteen offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these thirteen was INR 39,856/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 39,817/t, rounded to INR 39,800/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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