Local Indian rebar trade prices have remained stable amid low demand with end-use sectors like housing construction, rural infrastructure and medium-scale projects cautious in raw material bookings in the face of sustained inflationary pressures and the rising cost of borrowed funds, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Tuesday, April 4.
Indian rebar trade prices have remained stable at INR 55,500/mt ($674/mt) ex-Mumbai and unchanged at INR 54,500/mt ($662/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Rebar prices have also remained stable at INR 50,200/mt ($610/mt) ex-Raipur in the central region and unchanged at INR 50,000/mt ($608/mt) ex-Durgapur in the east.
“There are no positive triggers for prices to move up. The mood is not good in the market as no improvement in demand is seen in the medium term. The high cost of borrowed funds for both trade channels and industry as well as home buyers is dampening sentiments,” a Kolkata-based dealer said.
“In such inflationary conditions, trade channels too are not in a position to adopt discounting as a tool to push sales, leading to an all-round inventory build-up. Current prices still have a lot of downside risks,” he said.
According to an official at an eastern regional secondary mill, producers are caught in a bind of stagnant rebar market conditions with a downside risk at a time when prices of sponge iron, billets and coal are rising.
He said that mills will have no option but to increase ex-work price levels in the coming weeks irrespective of bearish market conditions, to protect margins from moving to the negative zone.
