India: SteelMint's billet index rises INR 300/t despite limited buying interest - 18 Sep

SteelMint's billet index, which monitors the Raipur market in central India, rose by INR 300 per tonne (t) d-o-d to INR 45,250/t exw Raipur on 18 September, 2023.

The index moved up but buying activity remained limited in today's session owing to higher offers. Market participants remained wary of fluctuating offers for semi-finished steel. As a result, overall buying activity remained limited.

Total transactions of 2,440 t of billets were recorded on Monday as against 700 t on 16 September.

In the finished steel segment, prices varied across products. Wire rod prices increased by INR 100/t, while rebar prices remained unchanged. Sponge iron prices in Raipur rose by INR 500/t.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets of standalone furnaces in Raipur was recorded at INR 13,750/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 45,100-45,300/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 45,248/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other price indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Sixteen offers were reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these sixteen was INR 45,221/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 45,235/t exw, rounded to INR 45,250/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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