Indian tier-1 mills raise rebar list prices by up to INR 1,000/t ($12/t) for early-June 2024

• IF-rebar prices rise m-o-m in May
  
  
• Property registrations up 22% y-o-y
  
  

Indian tier-1 mills have increased rebar list prices by INR 500-1,000/t ($6-12/t) for early-June 2024 deliveries, sources informed BigMint. Meanwhile, a private steel mill has rolled over its list prices for early-June. Current list prices are hovering at INR 58,500-59,500/t ($701-713/t) on landed basis.

Trade-level BF rebar prices inched up by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 58,100/t ($697/t) exy-Mumbai as per BigMint's assessment on 7 June 2024. Prices are exclusive of GST at 18%. On monthly basis, rebar prices in trade segment rose by INR 3,700/t ($44/t) to monthly average of INR 58,300/t ($699/t) in May owing to limited supplies from tier-1 mills due to maintenance shutdowns.

In the projects segment, prices were hovering around INR 57,000-58,000/t ($683-695/t) FOR Mumbai. Demand from projects segment remained need-basis only last month.

Factors behind hike in prices

1. IF-rebar prices rise m-o-m: Induction furnace (IF) route rebar trade prices increased on monthly basis in May 2024 amid good demand driven by active buying observed in the beginning of the month. Meanwhile, buyers did not procure in bulk volumes in the later part of month and manufacturers offered trade discounts to liquidate inventories. In addition, trade prices of rebars were supported by higher prices of raw materials and semi-finished steel during the month. The inventory days increased to around 8-10 days in May against 6-8 days in the month ago period. IF-rebar trade prices rose by INR 2,400/t ($29/t) m-o-m to average of INR 52,900/t ($634/t), exw-Mumbai in May as against INR 50,500/t ($605/t) in April 2024. Current IF-rebar prices stood at INR 51,700/t ($620/t) exw-Mumbai as on 7 June. It must be noted that IF-based mills command 65-70% share in rebar market.

The gap between BF-IF rebars widened m-o-m to INR 5,500-6,000/t ($66-72/t) in May as compared to INR 4,000-4,500/t ($48-54/t) in April.

2. Property registrations increase in May: Property registrations in the country's largest real estate market, Mumbai registered a 22% rise y-o-y to 12,000 units in May 2024 as compared with 9,823 units in the same period last year, as per data released by Knight Frank India.

Meanwhile on monthly basis, property registrations edged up 3% against 11,623 units in April 2024.