Nepal: Rebar offers fall w-o-w ahead of fiscal year-end

Nepalese rebar offers for cash guarantee have moved down by around NPR 3,000/t ($22/t) to NPR 82,000-83,000/t ($614-622/t) compared to NPR 86,000/t ($644/t) a week ago. Moreover, for bank guarantee, rebar offers fell by NPR 5,000/t ($37/t) to NPR 84,000-86,000/t ($629-644/t) against NPR 89,000 ($667/t) last week. A deal of around 3,000 tonnes (t) was heard concluded at similar price levels.

"Monsoon rains in Nepal are dampening steel demand. This, coupled with the year-end pressure on manufacturers to clear inventory to secure cash flow, is leading to daily price drops," as per sources.

Decline in imported WRC offers

EAF/IF route WRC (wire rod coils) offers declined by $15/t w-o-w to $520-525/t exw Durgapur compared to $535-540/t exw last week. Notably, there are currently no offers for WRC from the BF-based steel producers.

Imported sponge iron

Sponge iron import offers from India fell by $10-13/t this week. However, no buying activity was recorded for Nepal this week, with export prices dropping to $350/t CPT Raxaul for FeM 80% (70:30 mix) material.

Nepal steel imports

Nepal's finished flat steel imports fell by 15,140 t m-o-m reaching 26,821 t in June against 41,961 t in May. Moreover, the same declined by 16,410 t y-o-y compared to 43,231 t in June 2023.

Semi-finished steel product import by Nepal rose by 24,610 t m-o-m to 35,172 t in June as against 10,562 t last month. Furthermore, imports of semis rose by 8,796 t y-o-y to 26,376 t in June 2023.

Imported finished long steel product imports by in Nepal decreased by 674 t m-o-m in June to 8,919 t against 9,593 in May. The same fell by 14,495 t y-o-y compared to 23,414 in June 2023.