Indian primary mills roll over rebar list prices for early-November sales

Indian primary mills have announced roll over in rebar list prices for early-November 2023 dispatches over price tags for end-October sales, sources informed SteelMint. The current list prices are hovering around INR 56,000-57,000/t ($673-685/t) on landed basis, lower by INR 1,500/t ($18/t) against INR 57,500-58,500/t ($691-703/t) seen in early-October 2023.

Trade-level blast furnace (BF) rebars prices registered marginal drop across major markets this week owing to slow buying interest in the distribution network as market participants were waiting for mills' to announce prices. Current rebar prices in the trade segment dropped marginally by INR 100/t ($1/t) on weekly basis to INR 56,400/t ($678/t), exy-Mumbai, as per SteelMint's assessment on 3 November, 2023. Prices exclude GST at 18%.

Why have mills' kept prices unchanged:

1. IF-route rebar prices drop: Induction furnace (IF) route rebar prices dropped marginally by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 49,800/t ($598/t) exw-Mumbai. Market witnessed slower trade activities as buyers procured on need basis only and prices of raw materials showed downward trend during the period. Currently, rebar prices are hovering at INR 49,800/t ($598/t) exw Mumbai as on 3 November 2023.

Monthly average BF-rebar prices rose by around INR 700/t ($8/t) m-o-m to INR 57,500/t ($691/t) exy-Mumbai in October. While IF-rebar prices were down by INR 1,200/t ($14/t) on the month to INR 50,800/t ($611/t) exw-Mumbai in October. This led to widening of BF-IF rebar price gap to INR 6,500-7,000/t ($78-84/t) in October as against INR 4,500-5,000/t ($54-60/t) in the preceding month.

2. Property registrations: Property registrations in the country's largest real estate market, Mumbai remained largely stable m-o-m at 10,600 units in October 2023, as per data released by Knight Frank India. Meanwhile, the same registered 26% growth on y-o-y basis as against 8,422 units in October 2022.

3. Raw material prices range-bound: Prices of key steel-making raw materials dropped on weekly basis. SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines Fe62% index dropped w-o-w by INR 400/t ($5/t) to INR 4,700/t ($56/t) ex-mines, as on 28 October. Market remained sluggish owing to festival season as market participants were on holiday and bid-offer disparity weighed on trade.

Australian premium hard coking coal (PHCC) prices fell by $13/t w-o-w to $362/t CNF Paradip as against $375/t CNF last week amid subdued demand and lower bids.