Local India rebar trade prices have continued to remain under pressure with weather conditions worsening across northern states and mills pushing volumes at lower prices to liquidate stocks even after reducing plant utilizations levels, SteelOrbis has learned from trade and industry circles.
Indian rebar trade prices are down INR 300/mt ($3/mt) to INR 46,800/mt ($570/mt) ex-Mumbai and have lost INR 300/mt ($3/mt) to INR 48,000/mt ($585/mt) ex-Chennai in the south.
Rebar prices are down INR 1,600/mt ($19/mt) to INR 43,200/mt ($526/mt) ex-Raipur and have lost INR 1,200/mt ($15/mt) to INR 43,700/mt ($523/mt) ex-Durgapur in the east.
According to a Kolkata-based distributor, flooding across northern India has not only sharply reduced new bookings, but there have been disruptions in dispatches as road transporters were not accepting goods, resulting in large stock pile-ups at market intermediaries.
“We are in a very bad situation with a slump in prices of finished steel and still high prices of semis like billet and sponge iron. The only way we can push moderate sales volumes is by dropping prices. Hence, margins of secondary mills are under severe strain and even negative in case of some producers in the north,” an official at an eastern India-based secondary mill said.
“The market will remain volatile not only due to seasonal weather conditions but demand at the retail end for housing and urban construction is expected to remain weak even in the medium term. Most mills have dropped plant utilization levels 20-30 percent over past two months, but this is failing to support the market also,” he said.
$1 = INR 82.10