India: SteelMint's billet index slides further as buyers turn cautious - 16 Mar

SteelMint's billet index decreased further by INR 250/t to INR 45,800/tonne (t) exw-Raipur on 16 March, 2023.

Buyers are adopting a conservative buying strategy due to the uncertainty in the market which has contributed to the lower pricing. Also prices in the north region moved downward and hence there was less acceptability of the higher prices.

Transactions of around 3,000 t were recorded today in Raipur as against 2,430 t reported on 15 March.

SteelMint's daily price assessment for rebars has shown a maximum decrease of INR 300/t, while sponge iron and wire rod prices fell by INR 250/t and INR 200/t respectively.

Around 1,800 t of wire rod trades were recorded today against 550 t on 15 March, while 7,900 t of rebar trades were recorded in Raipur today against 2,000 t yesterday.

The conversion spread of the standalone furnaces in Raipur from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets remained stable at INR 14,550/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 45,800-46,000/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 45,830/t which is given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other Price Indicators - bids/offers/indicative (T2) - Seven offers reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these seven was INR 45,817/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price for billet exw Raipur was at INR 45,824/t, rounded to INR 45,800/t exw.

Click for detailed methodology

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