After four consecutive weeks of continued gains, the local Indian
pig iron market has edged down by INR 300/mt ($4.50/mt) in the past week to INR 20,700/mt ($311/mt) ex-works, amid high stocks at the dealers' end, traders said on Wednesday, October 19.
"After a month of gains, the market has been rife for a correction. Dealers are clearly over-stocked and have preferred to wait a while even amid reports of producers considering another price hike for the current month," a Kolkata-based trader said.
"With sufficient stocks, dealers are not in a rush to make fresh bookings to beat the revision in base prices by producers," the trader added.
However, at least two other traders said that the correction is not expected to persist and local
pig iron prices have an upside potential of around INR 500-1,000/mt ($7.50-15/mt) from current levels and the entire increase in base prices will be passed on by dealer to consumers as demand continues to be strong and the market will absorb higher prices.
$1 = INR 66,67