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Weekly: Indian steel market snapshot

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Semi Finished

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1 Aug 2020, 17:19 IST

During the week-31, Indian domestic trade activities remained subdued. The mid sized steel mills reported mixed response from the domestic buyers over uncertainty in the market.

According to the SteelMint's assessment, in these days the prices of semi finished & finished products fluctuated by INR 100-800/t through the mid-sized mills. Where as fresh bookings were noticed on increased prices from the traders end for flat steel products.

Iron ore and Pellets

Essel Mining has increased its iron ore fines and lump offer by INR 200 & INR 400/t respectively. Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled iron ore lump e-auction yesterday (31st July'20). The entire quantity of 600,000 t was booked upto INR 500/t over the set base price.
SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet index "PELLEX" up by INR 250/t this week to INR 6,850/t DAP Raipur.
Bellary based pellet makers have increased offer around INR 500-600/t to INR 6,500-6,600/t exw amid a sharp hike in sponge offers. Durgapur pellet offer also increased to INR 6,500/t exw this week.
SteelMint's pellet index (FoB east cost India) has come down by $3.5/t w-o-w to $100/t this week on lower bids from China. As domestic sales fetched better realization compared to exports, limited export deals were recorded.
An Odisha-based pellet maker concluded around 30,000t pellet export deal for Fe 64% grade pellet with 3% Al to China at around $112/t CFR with an FoB equivalent of $99.5/t for Aug loading.

Coal

Indian spot demand would gradually emerge in the fourth quarter on the back of restocking needs after the monsoon season ends in September.

Latest offers for the Premium HCC grade are assessed at around $110.50/t FOB Australia, $121.75/t CNF China and $123.65/t CNF India.

Ferrous Scrap

Imported scrap offers to India moved up considerably over a week, however less trades were witnessed. Most of the buyers opted to stay away from the market considering fluctuations in finished steel prices, traders highlighted.

SteelMint's assessment for containerized Shredded 211 from UK/Europe surged to $305-308/t CFR Nhava Sheva, rising by around $15/t as compared to last week's closing.
HMS 1&2 (80:20) from UK and Middle East is being offered at around $270-275/t CFR Chennai, depending on the quality. UK HMS (80:20) offers were heard at $275-280/t CFR Nhava Sheva. Offers for HMS 1&2 (80:20) from West African origin being reported at $262-265/t CFR to Goa, increasing sharply by $ 8-10/t against last week's report. While buyers price idea now stands at $255/t CFR basis.

Ferro Alloys

Silico manganese prices remained stable, with a marginal downward shift of around INR 500/t w-o-w in Raipur. Meanwhile, dispatches have improved in Raipur and domestic demand remains moderate, while export demand remains dull.
Ferro manganese prices remained stable w-o-w due to dull demand. However, with the gaining imported ore prices, the alloy prices may not fall further.
Indian ferro chrome prices remain scattered depending on the level of inventory with the producers. Deals are mostly being concluded at around INR 61,000/t. Meanwhile, exports demand is absent due to an increase in Chinese domestic production.
Prices remained stable w-o-w as the producers are firm with their prices as supply shrinks. The demand is relatively moderate in domestic market, while exports remain absent. Producers are expecting prices to rise soon.

Semi Finished

Domestic sponge iron offers surge by INR 100-800/t ($ 1-10), while billet prices fluctuated slightly by INR 100-500/t across regions. Further, as per producers, the billet demand was not upto the mark from the domestic buyers

Indian sponge C-DRI (80 FeM, 100% lumps) export offers rally by $10-15/t to $265-270/t CPT Benapole, equivalent to $285-290/t CFR Chittagong, Bangladesh. However no fresh deals were learned due to constant rise in price range.
The mid scale mills billet export offers stable this week at around $370/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $395-398/t, CPT Nepal, via road delivery. Total of 1,500-2,000 t export deals reported in the last 3-4 days by traders.
Steel grade pig iron prices increased by INR 1,000-1,500/t w-o-w due to higher bids price in SAIL's auction & short supply by private producers in the spot market.
SAIL conducted an auction for 5,700 t off grade pig iron (2-rake loaded) on 29th July from its Bokaro Steel Plant, Jharkhand & the entire quantity got booked at INR 25,900/t exw.
Vizag Steel has floated an export tender of 20,000 t billets (90*90 mm) for Sep-end shipment. The due date of the tender is 5 Aug'20.
SAIL has scheduled an auction for around 3,200 t off-grade pig iron on 03 Aug'20 from its IISCO Steel Plant (ISP), West Bengal.
SAIL has floated a 30,000 t (220x1600 mm, Q235/SS400) slab export tender. The tender due date is 16:00 hrs of 05 Aug'20. The shipment will be scheduled by 30 Sep'20 from Vizag port
Vizag Steel has floated an export tender of 60,000 t blooms (150*150 mm) for Sep-end shipment. The due date of the tender is 3 Aug'20.

Finished Long

India's finish long steel market observed moderate trade activity in most of the major locations and the rebar prices through medium and small scale mills is fluctuated by INR 100-600/t on a week duration except in western region. However due to high raw material prices(melting scrap) the manufacturers from major supplying hub of western India (Jalna, Ahmedabad, Mumbai) have raised their rebar offers upto INR 1,000/t.

Trade reference rebar prices (12-25 mm) through midsized mills assessed at INR 31,300-31,600/t exw Raipur, INR 33,000-33,300/t exw-Jalna.
Trade discount given by Raipur based heavy structure manufacturers is at INR 600-900/t and the trade price of 200 Angle is at INR 34,900-35,300/t exw.
Trade discounts in Raipur wire rod are currently at INR 1,100-1,300/t and trade reference prices stood at INR 31,500-32,100/t exw-Raipur and INR 31,400-31,800/t, exw-Durgapur, size 5.5 mm.

Finished Flat

Traded prices of domestic HRC cargoes reported an increase of INR 500-1,000/t ($7- 13) this week as Indian buyers are accepting higher list prices. Major steel mills raised HRC & CRC prices yesterday by around INR 1,000-1,250/t for Aug'20 deliveries. This is in addition to an increase of INR 500-750/t earlier in July.

Also with the announcement of unlocking in various states, traders are actively making fresh bookings since they have limited stocks in hand. Meanwhile limited production and increased exports of thinner gauge HRC tightened supplies in the domestic market.

HRC (IS 2062, 2.5 - 8 mm) prices were at INR 37,500-38,250/t (ex- Mumbai), INR 37,000-38,000/t (ex-Delhi) and INR 38,500-39,000/t (ex-Chennai).
CRC (0.9 mm IS513 GR) prices were assessed at INR 42,500-43,500/t (ex- Mumbai), INR 43,500-44,500/t (ex- Chennai) and INR 42,500- 44,000/t (ex-Delhi).

Reference Prices as on 1st Aug'20 (Week 31)