India: SteelMint's billet index improves on booking at higher offers -1 Feb

SteelMint's billet index showed an upward trend at INR 47,200/tonne (t) (+ INR 100/t) exw-Raipur on 1 February, 2023. Billets prices increased on booking at higher offers as market improved during the budget session.

Buying in semi-finished and finished steel remained strong. Northern region market fluctuated and showed a sudden spike which encouraged price movement in first half though later on prices decreased. Transactions of 1,300 t were recorded today in Raipur as against 3,400 t as reported on 31 January.

SteelMint's daily price assessments for sponge iron showed maximum increase of INR 150/t. Meanwhile, rebars prices inched up by INR 100/t and wire rods prices remained unchanged.

1,850 t of wire rods trade were recorded today against 1,600 t recorded on 31 January. Meanwhile, 1,300 t of rebars trade were recorded against 1,400 t recorded on 31 January.

The conversion spread of the standalone furnaces in Raipur from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets further inched down by INR 50/t at INR 15,000/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 47,000-47,200/t was 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 47,115/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Eight offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these eight was INR 47,269/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 47,192/t, rounded to INR 47,200/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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