Local Indian rebar prices have staged a modest recovery with secondary mills increasing prices in some regions and with moderate buying activity at the retail level at the start of the fiscal year, but the mood among market participants has remained cautious, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Tuesday, April 2.
Sources said that rebar trade prices are up INR 300/mt ($4/mt) to INR 49,300/mt ($591/mt) ex-Mumbai and have gained INR 200/mt ($2/mt) to INR 47,500/mt ($570/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Rebar trade prices have moved up INR 900/mt ($11/mt) to INR 43,600/mt ($523/mt) ex-Raipur and have gained INR 1000/mt ($12/mt) to INR 44,000/mt ($528/mt) ex-Durgapur in the east.
“The start of the new fiscal year has been good with mills gaining some confidence to push up prices. Regional markets have also seen some good buying activity from retail distributors. The recovery is a positive development. But it has to be kept in mind that the uptrend is also more in the nature of a correction as prices had been falling for the past several weeks,” a Kolkata-based distributor said.
“There are lot of doubts over the sustainability of the uptrend because the fundamentals of weak demand and political uncertainty have not changed. The upside potential may not be much going forward, but it will offer producers and dealers a window to improve margins in the short term,” he said.
