Indian primary mills raise rebar list prices; trade segment follows on cue

Indian primary mills have announced an interim hike of INR 500/tonne ($6/t) in rebar list prices with effect from 10 August, 2023. Following this, trade level prices of rebars edged up w-o-w in some of the major markets. Meanwhile, buying activities in the traders' market remained weak.

Current rebar prices in the trade segment edged up by INR 300/t ($4/t) w-o-w to INR 50,800/t ($613/t), exy-Mumbai, as per SteelMint's assessment on 11 August, 2023. Prices exclude GST at 18%.

JSW Steel:

• Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 50,750/t ($613/t), landed Mumbai.
  
  

Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL):

• Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 51,000-51,500/t ($616-622/t), landed Delhi.
  
  

ESL:

• Rebars (12-32mm, IS1786): INR 51,250-51,500/t ($619-622/t), landed Delhi.
  
  
• Wire rods (5.5-6mm, SAE1008): INR 53,000/t ($640/t), landed Delhi.
  
  

Prices are excluding GST at 18%.

*Note- Schemes/discounts and rebates are additional on the above prices.

Factors behind hike in prices:

1. Raw material prices range-bound: Prices of key steel-making raw material, iron ore fines (Fe 62%) and coking coal remained range-bound w-o-w.

SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines Fe62% index remained stable w-o-w at INR 4,200/t ($51/t) on ex-mines as on 5 August.

Australian premium hard coking coal (HCC) prices rose by $5/t w-o-w to $254/t CNF Paradip against $249/t CNF last week.

2. IF-route rebar prices: Buying interest in induction furnace (IF-route) rebars was dull during the week and trade discounts were given to liquidate inventories. Meanwhile, traders booked good volumes last week. Furthermore, prices of semi-finished steel (billets) remained range-bound amid weak market sentiments. IF rebar prices edged up by INR 300/t w-o-w to INR 47,700/t ($576/t) exw-Mumbai. Current IF-route rebar trade prices were assessed at INR 47,500/t ($574/t), exw-Mumbai. It should be noted that IF-route rebars enjoy 65-70% of the market share.

The monthly average gap between BF-IF rebars narrowed to INR 3,000/t ($36/t) in August against INR 4,000/t ($48/t) last month. The narrowing of this gap made primary mills raise their prices.

Outlook
Current project segment offers were heard at around INR 49,000-50,000/t ($592-604/t) FOR Mumbai, registering an increase of INR 500-1,000/t ($6-12/t) against last week. Enquiries in the projects segment increased during early-August as compared with last month and major infrastructure companies have completed their procurement at the beginning of the month. However, market participants expect rebar prices to increase further by the end of the month.