India: SteelMint's billet index rises on higher offers; trades slow down - 12 Jan

SteelMint's billet index rose by INR 250/tonne (t) to INR 47,550/t exw-Raipur on 12 January, 2023.

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

Transactions of around 2,320 t were recorded today in Raipur as against 5,895 t reported on 11 January.

SteelMint's daily price assessment for rebar increased by INR 200/t. Sponge iron prices increased by INR 200/t and wire rod prices inched up by INR 200/t.

Wire rod trades in Raipur were recorded at 1,200 t today as against 3,700 t yesterday, while 1,500 t of rebar trades were recorded as against 5,300 t yesterday.

The conversion spread of the standalone furnaces in Raipur from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets increased slightly by INR 50/t d-o-d to INR 15,500/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) - Six trades at INR 47,500 - 47,600/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 47,572/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Eleven offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these eleven 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 47,558/t, rounded to INR 47,550/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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