Ex-India billet prices have been kept stable over the past week, with a section of sellers maintaining optimism that prices may have bottomed out, but buyers have stayed away from committing deals uncertain of the situation in the Middle East and amid the absence of any kind of activity originating from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Wednesday, June 25.
Sources said that ex-India billet prices are stable at $415-425/mt FOB, with sellers from large mills taking the cue of stability seen in the market for semis in China, prompting optimism that the market may have bottomed out in the current cycle.
However, buyers have not shared this view, with some of them pointing out the complete silence of business activity following the submission of offers to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, indicating that situation in the Middle East remains uncertain both in terms of prices as well as deliveries following the Iran-Israel conflict, which has yet to be fully resolved, the sources said.
“Sellers are holding on to their hopes. Prices are stable but buyers are sitting on the fence. Demand is slow across Asian markets. The Middle East continues to remain tense. So, buyers feel that a bottom has yet to be reached,” a source at Jindal Steel and Power Limited said.
“The local market is also becoming challenging. Steady declines in long product prices are slowing down merchant trade volumes and prices of semis,” the sources said.
In the local market, billet trade prices are down INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 39,300/mt ($458/mt) ex-Mumbai and down INR 1,100/mt ($13/mt) to INR 37,050/mt ($431/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.
$1 = INR 85.85