Prices for rebar and billet in the Indian domestic market have been losing ground over the past week as demand has been weaker.
After two consecutive base price increases in the Indian market, some integrated mills have announced a cut of INR 1,000/mt ($12/mt) for late October, trying to maintain sales ahead of Diwali. However, demand has been weaker and the market expectations have generally become negative for the rest of October.
Indian rebar trade prices have fallen by INR 300/mt ($4/mt) to INR 48,500/mt ($577/mt) ex-Mumbai and have declined more by a larger margin, by INR 800/mt ($10/mt), to INR 47,500/mt ($565/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
In other regions, the downtrend has been even stronger. Rebar prices have dropped by INR 1,500/mt ($18/mt) to INR 43,400/mt ($517/mt) ex-Raipur and have fallen by INR 900/mt ($11/mt) to INR 43,900/mt ($523/mt) ex-Durgapur in the east.
Local billet prices in India have also followed a downward trend. Billet trade prices have declined by INR 1,500/mt ($18/mt) to INR 42,600/mt ($507/mt) ex-Mumbai and are down by the same amount to INR 40,100/mt ($477/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region.