Indian rebar producers, both integrated and secondary steel mills, have largely kept their official offer prices unchanged during the past week, but disparities in regional prices have increased further following the wide range of discounts on offer as producers have attempted to keep pushing volumes for inventory control in the face of sluggish demand from key construction sectors, sources told SteelOrbis on Tuesday, September 29.
Integrated steel mills kept rebar prices unchanged at INR 36,950/mt ($501/mt) ex-stockyard, while secondary producers have also maintained prices unchanged, at INR 30,700/mt ($416/mt) ex-stockyard.
However, market source said that discounting levels particularly by integrated steel mills have become more aggressive during the past week, indicating higher concerns over inventory management, and this has triggered widening disparities in rebar prices across regional markets.
The sources said that integrated steel mills in western and southern regional markets are reported to be offering discounts up to INR 1,000/mt ($14/mt), which pushed prices to INR 35,950/mt ($487/mt) ex-stockyard.
At the same time, the rebar price of an integrated steel mill in the eastern region is at INR 35,750/mt ($484/mt) ex-stockyard, taking into account discounts, market sources said.
In contrast, with secondary steel mills having limited leverage on pricing, discounts are more conservative with a price of INR 30,400/mt ($412/mt) ex-stockyard net of discount, compared to a price of INR 30,700/mt ($416/mt) net of discount in the earlier week in the western market around Mumbai, market sources said.