Weekly round-up: Domestic steel market sees mixed trends

Indian domestic steel market witnessed mixed trends during week 3 (10 Jan'22 - 15 Jan'22). Domestic induction-route long steel prices increased sharply despite moderate demand while flat steel prices remained range-bound but sentiments improved.

On the other hand, semi finished steel prices surged by INR 700-2,100/t in many regions across the country.

Iron ore and pellets

• NMDC is to conduct an auction for nearly 320,000 t of iron ore from Chhattisgarh on 19 Jan'22.
  
  
• SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stands at INR 11,300/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 14 Jan'22, up INR 150/t against the last assessment on 11 Jan'22. The index climbed to a two-month high as the similar price levels were last seen in mid-Nov'21.
  
  
• A leading eastern India-based pellet-maker concluded an export deal for 55,000 t of pellets (Fe 63%, 3.5% Al) recently. The deal was heard to be concluded at $164/t CFR, sources confirmed. Active enquiries and restocking demand from China ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays kept pellet export prices supported.
  
  
• SteelMint's weekly index for India's low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) exports inched up $1/t to $36/t FOB east coast India. India's iron ore export market witnessed some improvement in sentiments in the past week following the upside in iron ore import prices in China.
  
  

Coal

• Australian premium low-volatile hard coking coal FoB prices rose by $45/t w-o-w basis amid tight supply.
  
  
• Weather-related concerns in Australia continued to weigh on market sentiments. As a result, offers in the spot market were limited.
  
  
• Enquiries were heard from India for premium coking coal but no deal was reported to have been concluded.
  
  
• Latest prices for the premium HCC grade are assessed at around $404/t FOB Australia and $426/t CNF India.
  
  
• No portside RB2 deals were reported this week as the stock available was completely sold out. The only deals heard were for Feb'22 delivery at INR 12,500-12,700/t. RB3 deals were heard at INR 10,800-10,900/t ex-Gangavaram.
  
  
• South African RB1 prices for Jan'22 rose by $9/t to $164/t. Discounts for RB2 and RB3 were assessed at $6/t and $17/t respectively.
  
  

Ferrous scrap

India's imported scrap trade for HMS grade remained active this week. Buyers were keen to book fresh material on rising prices and supportive domestic sentiments. However, demand for shredded material remained muted due to high offers, SteelMint learnt from sources.

Recent deals and offers

• A decent quantity of East Africa-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) material was booked at $465/t CFR Nhava Sheva.
  
  
• A few containers of South America-origin material were booked at $480-490/t CFR Chennai levels.
  
  
• UAE-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) was offerred at $485-490/t CFR, up by $15/t w-o-w.
  
  

Ferro alloys

The ferro alloys market prices remained stable as manganese alloys and ferro chrome prices were range-bound w-o-w. On the other hand, ferro silicon prices decreased slightly on the week.

• Indian silico manganese prices remained range-bound owing to moderate demand. Many producers were waiting for European inquiries. According to an assessment on 14 Jan'22, domestic silico manganese (60-14) prices were hovering at around INR 98,000-99,000/t on exw basis in Durgapur, Raipur, and Vizag. Meanwhile, exporters were offering $1,320/t FoB India for 60-14 grade and $1,460/t FoB India for 65-16 grade.
  
  
• Indian ferro manganese (HC70%) producers were offering at INR 98,000-98,700/t exw from both Durgapur and Raipur, assessed on 14 Jan'22. Demand was low this week. However, major producers were booked for the month.
  
  
• Indian ferro chrome (HC60%) prices dropped marginally by INR 500/t w-o-w to INR 96,000/t exw-Jajpur despite healthy demand from China before the Winter Olympics and the Chinese New Year. Producers tried to increase prices on better domestic and Chinese demand, but buyers were not willing to accept higher prices.
  
  
• India's ferro silicon (Si-70%) prices fell marginally due to weak domestic demand. Most of the market participants (buyers/sellers) were waiting for the major tenders to get concluded for a clear price direction. Currently, producers were offering INR 158,000-159,600/t in Guwahati and Bhutan on exw basis.
  
  

Semi finished

Indian semi finished steel prices increased sharply, as per SteelMint assessment. Billets offers rose in the range of INR 700-1,650/tonne across regions with a major rise reported in Ramgarh, Eastern India. Similarly, sponge iron prices also moved up by INR 750-2,100/t on weekly basis.

• SAIL will auction 4,800 t of steel grade pig iron (in 48 units) from Rourkela Steel Plant on 18 Jan'22.
  
  
• Tata Metaliks raised pig iron prices by INR 2,500/t. Fresh offers for foundry grade material are at INR 48,400/t and for basic grade at INR 45,300/t. Prices are exw-Kharagpur and applicable for the Kolkata and Howrah markets.
  
  
• Vizag Steel invited bids for 10,500 t (5-20 mm) of sponge iron lump (direct reduced iron, Fe 93% min). The due date for submission of tender is 21 Jan'22.
  
  
• SAIL held an auction for 6,400 t of basic grade pig iron on 12 Jan'22 from the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in Odisha. The entire quantity was booked at a weighted average price of INR 40,000/t exw.
  
  
• Vizag Steel floated two ocean sale export tenders for 20,000 t of billets and 12,000 t of wire rod coils. Both the tenders are due on 17 Jan'22.
  
  
• A steel mill booked four-five rakes of BF-billets for exports to Nepal at around $630/t. Fresh offers are reported at around $650/t, CPT Raxaul border.
  
  
• Induction furnace-grade billet export offers were reported at $615-620/t exw-Durgapur, equivalent to $640-645/t CPT Nepal, increasing by $35/t, w-o-w.
  
  
• Around 3,000 t of sponge iron (lumps 100%, FeM 80%) export deals were reported to Bangladesh at around $470/t CPT Benapole, equivalent to $500/t CFR Chittagong. However, fresh offers increased to $480-485/t CPT Benapole.
  
  

Finished longs

Induction-route finished long steel makers saw moderate trade enquiries and transactions in the spot market. On a weekly basis, rebar prices in most of the markets increased by up to INR 1,500/t, w-o-w. A consistent rise in raw material prices lent support to long steel prices. However, buyers in some markets were cautious to procure at higher prices which affected bulk trading from mid-week.

• The trade reference prices of Fe 500 grade rebar steel manufactured via IF-route for 10-25 mm size was assessed at INR 48,000-48,400/t exw-Raipur and INR 51,500-51,900/t exw-Jalna.
  
  
• Raipur-based heavy structural steel manufacturers offerred trade discounts in the range of INR 800-1,000/t. Trade reference prices of 200 mm angle stood at INR 53,300-53,700/t exw-Raipur.
  
  
• Trade discounts by Raipur wire rod suppliers were hovering around INR 1,000/t. Trade reference prices stood at INR 48,400-48,700/t exw-Raipur, INR 49,000-49,300/t exw-Durgapur, size 5.5 mm.
  
  

Finiahed flats

• Flat steel demand continued to remain slow despite a slight improvement in the sentiments a week ago with mills announcing a roll over in prices for early-Jan'22 deliveries.
  
  
• Sluggish demand from both the distribution channel and end-users kept hot-rolled coils (HRCs), plates and cold-rolled coils (CRCs) prices range bound in the key markets but led to a decline in coated steel prices.
  
  
• SteelMint's India HRC (SAE1006) export index dropped by $2/t this week to $720/t FOB east coast. A few export deals were reported towards the end of the last week involving 30,000 t HRCs to Vietnam and Nepal each at $750-755/t CFR levels for mid-Feb'22 shipment. In the current week, a private Indian mill booked around 20,000-25,000 t of HRCs to Vietnam at around $745/t CFR Vietnam for Feb'22 shipments.