Local Indian rebar trade prices have continued to lose ground under pressures from falling buying interest, rising inventories in trade channels, and induction furnace operators dropping prices in an attempt to push volumes in the market, SteelOrbis learned from trade and industry circles on Tuesday, June 24.
Sources said that, while large buyers like engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) companies, major buyers from integrated mills, have continued to remain out of the market, market intermediaries and retail trade, mainstays of induction furnace operators, have been seen to be reducing off-take week on week as monsoon rains become more widespread across the country.
The sources said that rebar trade prices have declined by INR 800/mt ($9/mt) to INR 44,000/mt ($510/mt) ex-Mumbai and are down INR 400/mt ($5/mt) to INR 46,300/mt ($537/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Rebar trade prices have moved down by INR 400/mt ($5/mt) to INR 40,400/mt ($468/mt) ex-Raipur and have lost INR 200/mt ($3/mt) to INR 40,300/mt ($467/mt) ex-Durgapur in the east.
“After consecutive weeks of declines, most market participants feel that prices have touched a bottom. But the outlook continues to remain bearish as there are no positive drivers to enable prices to recover. Demand across segments - retail, semi-urban and large projects - is seeing weaknesses,” a Kolkata-based distributor said.
“Hence, both price and trade activity will remain subdued through the next quarter (July-September). We are not ruling out possibilities of seeing some production cuts by induction furnace operators in an attempt to ease supply-side pressure on the market,” he added.
$1 = INR 86.24