The Indian rebar market has showed mixed trends during the past week, with integrating steel mills attempting to circumvent the failed demand revival by focusing on billet sales, particularly overseas shipments, while secondary producers have lowered prices as rural and semi-urban projects have taken a hit, SteelOrbis learned on Tuesday, July 28.
Integrated steel mills have maintained rebar prices by trying to check supply-side pressures by billet conversion and pushing semis volumes abroad. However, with secondary producers not having such an option and with rural and semi-urban construction demand being nipped in the bud amid regional lockdowns, they have been forced to cut prices.
Market sources said that rebar prices of integrated steel mills have been maintained at INR 35,700/mt ($477/mt) ex-stockyard. However secondary producers have cut prices by INR 500/mt ($7/mt) to INR 29,400/mt ($393/mt) ex-stockyard.
Analysts said that data for the housing real estate sector showed sales down by 75 percent in the April-June quarter, and finished housing inventory estimated at 600,000 units in urban metropolitan cities has prompted developers to be cautious in taking up new projects, and the impact of this has been felt in the sharp fall in bookings of rebar.
It has been pointed out that the rural economy which had showed signs of a faster recovery from the pandemic has been hit again by supply chain disruptions as local governments have been imposing selective lockdowns and both government and non-government organizations (NGOs) engaged in project construction have been either cancelling rebar bookings with secondary producers or staying away from new supply contracts, market sources said.
