Local Indian rebar market has remained quiet amid low trading activity and both integrated steel mills and secondary producers maintaining prices stable, expressing concerns over the tentative revival in demand in semi-urban and rural regions showing signs of reversals, traders said on Tuesday, August 4.
According to traders and officials at steel mills, integrated steel mills’ bookings from government-funded large infrastructure projects were increasing but not at the anticipated pace.
There had been optimism that the demand revival in semi-urban and rural housing and small infrastructure projects would support secondary rebar producers, but negatives of “regional lockdown and disruptions of distribution and marketing channels” have worsened such expectations and new bookings received by secondary mills have been seen to be tapering off in the short term, the officials and traders said.
Market sources said that integrated steel mills have maintained prices at INR 35,700/mt ($476/mt) ex-stockyard, while secondary producers have also kept prices stable at INR 29,400/mt ($392/mt) ex-stockyard.
“Demand from rural projects is failing to be sustained. We do not have leeway to further lower rebar prices to push volumes. Pricing as a tool to trigger demand is no longer relevant. Here again, the local price of merchant sale of billet from integrated steel mills has increased by INR 500/mt ($7/mt) over the past week, further limiting our scope to reduce rebar prices,” an official with eastern India-based secondary rebar producer said.
$1 = INR 75.00