Local Indian pig iron prices have declined by INR 200/mt ($3/mt) over the past week to INR 19,000/mt ($284/mt) ex-works, as pressures of oversupply from producers have built up, traders said on Wednesday, May 18.
Market sources said that several large producers which had been out of the market have returned with fresh offerings of pig iron.
The sources cited the example of the IISCO plant of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) which had pulled out of the pig iron market for over a month but has now resumed sales in the domestic market.
At the same time, SAIL, which had floated an export tender of 20,000 mt of pig iron earlier but did not attract any bids, is now offering the entire volume to the domestic market, the sources said.
Sources also pointed out a significant aberration which has surfaced in a few key regions like in central India where local prices of pig iron and ingots are almost at the same levels and are seen by the market as an imminent sign that pig iron prices will need to go through a period of correction. It was pointed out that in key markets like Raipur in central India, pig iron prices are at INR 19,000/mt ($284/mt), while ingots are barely INR 100/mt ($1.5/mt) higher.
$1 = INR 66.96