India: SteelMint's billet index increases on higher offers; trades slow down - 5 Jan

SteelMint's billet index moved up marginally to INR 47,500/tonne (t) (+INR 250) exw-Raipur on 5 January, 2023.

Billet prices increased slightly on higher offers. Trade volumes in semi-finished and finished long steel remained low. Market movements in north India have had an impact on the current price trend. Buyers may choose to observe market movements before committing to additional bookings at higher price levels.

Transactions of around 1,200 t were recorded today in Raipur as against 3,850 t reported on 4 January.

SteelMint's daily price assessment for rebar revealed a maximum increase of INR 300/t. Sponge iron prices have increased slightly by INR 250/t and wire rod prices have inched up by INR 100/t.

Wire rods trades in Raipur were recorded at 1,700 t today as against 1,100 t on 4 January, while 1,700 t of rebar trades were recorded as against 1,800 t yesterday.

The conversion spread of the standalone furnaces in Raipur from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets remained flat at INR 15,050/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) - Five trades at INR 47,400-47,700/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 47,487/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Nine offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these nine was INR 47,544/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 47,516/t, rounded to INR 47,500/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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