SteelMint's domestic scrap index rises by INR 700/t despite weak demand for semis

SteelMint's domestic steel scrap (end-cutting) index rose by INR 700/t to INR 41,400/t DAP Mandi Gobindgarh on 5 December, 2022.

In morning trade today in Mandi Gobindgarh, north India, steel ingots prices opened on a positive note at INR 47,000/t but inched down later in the day to INR 46,800/t at the time of reporting and price normalisation.

In Mandi, the semi-finished and finished steel markets saw limited activity, with only need-based purchases taking place, while tight supply of scrap and lack of offers by traders led to the rise in scrap prices.

"Scrap movement in the market was slow, and furnace owners were not getting scrap as per their requirements. So they increased the semis prices to secure scrap supply," a scrap trader source informed SteelMint.

Liquidity issues also persisted in the market, which made it difficult for smooth transactions to take place.

Snapshots of other markets-

Alang: Ship-breaking melting scrap prices remained stable today in Gujarat's Alang market. As per SteelMint's assessment, HMS (80:20) prices are assessed at INR 39,000/t exy. Limited buying enquiries for semis and finished steel in the last trading session and decent scrap trading volumes at current price levels prompted suppliers to keep their offers stable.

Chennai: Today, in south India's Chennai market, finished-steel and scrap prices remained stable, although demand was still limited, while billets prices inched up by INR 100/t to INR 46,500/t.

Market highlights-

End-cutting and billet spread: In Mandi, the end-cutting scrap and billet spread is at around INR 6,000-6500/t.

Domestic and imported scrap price gap: Imported melting scrap prices at Nhava Sheva Port were at around $405-415/t (including freight, which comes to approximately INR 35,700/t), while local scrap - HMS (80:20) - prices in Mumbai were assessed at INR 35,500/t.

Raipur sponge iron-billet spread: The current conversion spread (margin) from pellet-based DRI (P-DRI) to steel billets in Raipur stands at around INR 13,000/t.

To see SteelMint's Melting Scrap Assessment, pricing methodology and specification documents, Click here

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