Prices in the local Indian pig iron market have remained stable during the past week at INR 21,300/mt ($314/mt) ex-works, as the market has remained almost at a standstill in wake of the government imposing a ban on circulation of higher denomination currency notes across the country, traders said on Wednesday, November 16.
“Sentiment in the market after the government decision is extremely dismal. No trader is interested in doing business. Everyone is busy queuing up at banks to get their currency notes exchanged. Most do not have any cash liquidity as the government had put caps on weekly withdrawals of cash from bank accounts,” a Kolkata-based trader said.
“With a lot of incidental expenses like salaries to employees, and transportation, loading and unloading costs incurred in cash, the absence of liquidity has forced dealers to halt all fresh bookings,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, after a gap of a month and half, government trading house MMTC Limited on behalf of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) has floated an export tender for overseas sale of 30,000 metric tons of pig iron, with November 23 the deadline for submission of bids.
$1 = INR 68.03