Indian domestic pig iron prices have remained in the range of INR 19,200-19,500/mt ($246-249/mt) ex-works during the past week, against a background of market expectations of new export opportunities, traders said on Monday, July 15.
Two Kolkata-based traders said that prices in eastern Indian markets have been stable at the increased level of INR 19,500/mt amid a slight tightness in supplies, while prices have been marginally lower in the central and northern markets.
Large producers and traders have been holding on to prices since input costs for iron ore and coking coal have increased sharply over the past month even though there have been no signs of any revival on the demand side.
Market sources said that, though there are no reports available of export tenders pending for August shipments from large producers, the market is expecting a revival in export opportunities since some global transactions for pig iron were reported at around $400/mt earlier this month.
The combination of export transactions at higher levels by exporters outside India and the weakening of the rupee increasing the difference between Indian domestic pig iron prices and export prices in dollar terms is expected to make large Indian pig iron producers aggressively pursue export deals, with a resulting slowdown of new materials flowing into the local Indian markets.