Weekly round-up: Semi-finished prices increase amid moderate finished steel demand

The domestic steel market witnesses price volatility during week 40 (2 October-07 October 2023), with flats experiencing a further increase.

Iron Ore and Pellets

• SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, decreased by INR 300/t to INR 10,100/t DAP Raipur on 6 October 2023. Deals of 23,000 tonnes (t) were recorded this week.
  
  
• NMDC had conducted an iron ore auction for 376,000 t from Kumaraswamy Mines, Karnataka on 5 October 2023. Around 184,000 t fines (Fe 55.77-64.67%) were booked at INR 2,289-4,956/t against the base price of INR 2,279-3,487/t. Approximately 184,000 t lumps (10-40mm, Fe 62.27-64.77%) were booked at INR 3,893-5,086/t against the base price of INR 3,558-3,986/t. Prices are on ex-mines basis and inclusive of royalty, DMF and NMET.
  
  
• Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) conducted an auction for 54,000 t of iron ore lumps (10-50mm, Fe 62.5%) from its Bolani mines in Odisha on 6 October 2023. According to sources, only 9,000 t of lumps were booked at INR 6,460/t FOR loaded into rake at Bolani. Prices include royalty, DMF and NMET.
  
  
• SteelMint's India pellet (Fe 63%, 3% Al) export (FOB east coast) index inched down by $1/t w-o-w to $109/t on 4 October, 2023. No deal of Fe63% grade pellet was reported in this publishing window amid Chinese holidays.
  
  
• SteelMint's weekly Indian low-grade iron ore fines (Fe 57%) export index remained stable w-o-w at $66/t FOB east coast on 5 October, 2023. As per sources, two deals totaling 110,000 t (Fe55/56%) were recorded from the east coast towards the end of last week for October delivery. Another deal of 35,000 t iron ore fines (Fe56/57%) was concluded from a western Indian port at $60-61/t FOB to the Middle East.
  
  

Coal

• Australian premium hard coking coal prices rose by 8% w-o-w to $358/t FOB and $349/ t CNF on 7 Oct'23 amid higher trade levels
  
  
• RB1 (6000 NAR) grade prices largely stable on weekly basis to $121.5/t FOB. Similarly, RB3 prices remained stable w-o-w at $99/t FOB Richards Bay, South Africa.
  
  
• Portside prices of South African RB3 (4800 NAR) thermal coal at Vizag Port recorded at INR 9,600/t, largely stable w-o-w
  
  

Ferrous Scrap

• India's demand for imported ferrous scrap remained subdued as buyers opted for a cautious approach at the start of the week, observing price trends before committing to significant purchases.
  
  
• However, in the past two days, there has been a slight uptick in trading activity. Nevertheless, the deals that have been finalised during this period are at lower price levels compared to the previous week.
  
  
• Some buyers have chosen to remain on the sidelines, planning to stay out of the market until the end of October, as they have already secured an adequate amount of material.
  
  
• Offers for shredded scrap from Europe destined for India have seen a decline of approximately $12/t w-o-w, settling at $410-412/t CFR Nhava Sheva, in contrast to $424/t CFR a week ago.
  
  
• Similarly, offers for HMS (80:20) scrap originating from Europe have dropped by $12-14/t, closing at $398-400/t CFR Nhava Sheva, compared to $412/t CFR a week ago.
  
  

Ferro Alloys

• Silico manganese: As of 6 October, 2023, Indian silico manganese (60-14) traded at around INR 65,500-66,700/t exw Durgapur, Raipur, and Vizag diminished by INR 1600/t. Due to the subdued demand from the mills the prices went down and because of this, traders also lowered their offers. Fall in steel prices could also be one of the reasons for declined prices of silico manganese. It is projected that the prices of silico manganese would be stable in the near future.
  
  
• Ferro manganese: Prices for Indian ferro manganese (HC70%) dropped by INR 1,000/t this week amid muted demand for special steel and reducing production volume. According to SteelMint, ferro manganese offers in Raipur and Durgapur on October 6th, 2023 were INR 67,000-68,600/t exw.
  
  
• Ferro Chrome: On 6 October, Indian ferro chrome (HC 60%, Si:4%) prices diminished by INR 3,200/t, as the buyers already had sufficient purchases resulted in low demand. The declined stainless steel prices w-o-w could also be the reason for lowered ferro chrome prices. On 6 October, SteelMint assessed the price of Indian ferro chrome (HC60%, Si:4%) at INR 119,800/t exw-Jajpur. It is anticipated that the price might get corrected after the Chinese market resumes.
  
  
• Ferro silicon: Prices of Indian ferro silicon (FeSi:70%) rose by INR 900/ to maintain the balance between the latest Bhutanese price announcements. The prices would be stable in the near future as the there is an ongoing mid-autumn holidays in China, making the market inactive for now. According to SteelMint, the price of ferro silicon in India on 6th October was INR 104,500/tonne (t) exw-Guwahati.
  
  

Semi-Finished

• Indian semi-finished steel prices increased as per SteelMint's assessment. Domestic billet prices increased by INR 200-800/t across regions, with a major increase of INR 800/t seen in Mumbai, however; billet prices only in Goa witnessed a drop of INR 700/t. Similarly, sponge iron prices also increased by INR 200-1,300/t, with a major increase of INR 1,200-1,300/t seen in the southern region w-o-w.
  
  
• Tata Metaliks has announced a price cut of INR 1,000/t ($12/t) (both basic and foundry grades) due to lower demand at previous offers.
  
  
• SAIL-Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) held an auction for 4800 t of steel-grade pig iron on 30 Sept'23. Entire quantity was booked at an average price of INR 38,200/t exw.
  
  
• Indian DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) exports offers decreased by approximately $7 per ton, reaching $420 per ton on CPT Raxaul, and $430 per ton on CPT Benapole.
  
  

Finished Long

• BF-route rebar: Indian primary mills announced an increase of up to INR 1,500/t in list prices of rebars for early-October dispatches. Post-revision, effective rebar list prices are hovering around INR 57,500-58,500/t on FOR basis.
  
  
• Induction furnace (IF) rebar prices showed a marginal drop of INR 300/t to INR 51,800/t exw-Mumbai against INR 52,100/t last week. Buyers procured on need basis only over the week, while there was slight improvement in buying activities since last 2 days. The monthly average gap between BF-IF rebars widened to INR 4,500-5,000/t in September as against INR 2,000-2,500/t in the preceding month.
  
  
• SteelMint's weekly price assessment for rebars (12-32 mm, BF-route, IS 1786, Fe500D) for the trade segment remained stable w-o-w at INR 58,100/t, exy-Mumbai, excluding GST at 18%.
  
  
• IF-route rebar: India's induction furnace route finished long steel prices witnessed mixed trends across regions this week. In most of the market manufacturers followed an upward movement in prices which created panic among traders, and they started booking material in the spot market. A hike in offers announced by BF-route mills for early October sales as well as rise in iron ore prices declared by NMDC have led to such positive market sentiment. Manufacturers have also reported improvement in booking of material this week, however, traders are now waiting to assess end-user response.
  
  
• On a weekly basis, In rebar steel prices increased by upto INR 1,300/t across the regions, except in few markets where prices marginally down as per SteelMint assessment shows.
  
  
• The trade reference price of Fe 500 grade rebar manufactured via the IF route for 10-25 mm size was assessed at INR 47,000-47,400/t exw Raipur, INR 51,500-52,000/t exw Jalna.
  
  
• Trade reference price of heavy structural steel for base size 150mm channel stands at INR 49,900-50,200/t exw Raipur.
  
  
• Trade reference prices of wire rod hovering at INR 47,000-47,500/t exw-Raipur.
  
  

Finished Flat Steel

• Trade level prices of finished flat products edged up further this week in a few markets under assessment. The increase in prices across the flat products was a humble 200-500/t w-o-w in the key markets of Mumbai and Faridabad.
  
  
• Also, major steel mills increased their list price tags for October sales up to INR 2,000/t for HRC and CRC and up to 1,000/t for plate mill (PM) plates. This has come after the two hikes announced by them in September, taking a note of increase in input material costs.
  
  
• Market sentiments are still showing buoyancy because of the monsoon offset and a major festival on approach. Thus, despite a need-based buying pattern of buyers in the spot market, a few industry participants opine mills list price tags and those in the traders' market to keep rising. However, highlighting a slow-paced increase for the latter.
  
  
• Global activities of Indian mills have got confined to supplying to the overseas buyers who have long-term contract, while there are no offers for spot trading at present since the last heard around 19 September 2023. Better domestic price level, low offers from competitors and a slow overseas demand, were pinned as reasons for no fresh quotes from India by some EXIM sources.