Nepal rebar prices stable amid rising billet import offers

Domestic rebar prices in Nepal remained steady this week, after seeing a continuous fall in Aug'21. Despite weak demand, the mills kept prices stable as raw material (billets) import offers remained high, which in turn increased input costs. Hence, to balance costs, the mills kept prices firm for the finished products.

It is also learned that the Nepalese mills largely prefer IF-route billets to balance the higher input costs.

Demand continued to remain poor and it seems the prices of local steel products will remain under pressure as mills are packed with inventory, especially in rebars, SteelMint learned from the mills located at Biratnagar and Bhairava in Nepal.

Current rebar offers for 10-20 mm from the mid-sized plants are at around NPR 80,000/tonne (t) ($685/t), while those from the major mills producing premium brands are at around NPR 82,000-83,000/t ($702-711/t). Prices are on ex-works basis and excluding VAT.

Indian IF billets prices rise by $5-10/t

As per SteelMint's assessment, Indian IF-route billet export offers to Nepal have increased by $5-10/t, w-o-w and a few deals of around 2,000 t were confirmed this week at around $568-570/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $595-600/t CPT Nepal. Meanwhile, fresh offers have been floated at around $570/t exw-Durgapur.

However, no deals or offers have been reported for the BF-route billets (produced by primary mills) amidst limited participation.

Meanwhile, wire rod offers floated by mid-sized mills were reported at around $615/t exw, equivalent to $640-645/t CPT Nepal, up by $15/t, w-o-w.

Imports rally by up to 20%

Nepal's billet imports from India have risen by around 20% to 101,350 t in Aug'21 as against 84,750 t during Jul'21. Overall imports during Jan-Aug'21 were recorded at 878,100 t versus 570,850 t in the corresponding period last year, up 54%.

The country's wire rod imports from India also surged 11% m-o-m and reached 17,800 t in Aug'21 as compared to 16,050 t during Jul'21. Imports during Jan-Aug'21 were recorded at 171,350 t against 125,650 t during Jan-Aug'20, up 36%.

Outlook

Indian export offers of billets and Nepal's domestic rebar prices are expected to see slight corrections as buyers are cautious of procuring material at prevailing offers owing to softening in raw material and billet prices globally.