Over the past week, prices in the local Indian pig iron prices have remained stable at INR 27,600/mt ($397/mt) ex-works, although market sentiments has been negative amid reports of several unsuccessful export offers and the sharply lower off-take by end-users, traders said on Wednesday, March 14.
Market sources said a number of export tenders being cancelled during the week and the poor response to local sales offers have depressed sentiment and end-users have postponed fresh bookings anticipating that local pig iron prices will soften.
The sources said that state-run trading firm MMTC Limited cancelled an export tender for 30,000 mt without citing reasons, but market reports have indicated that the offers received did not match expectations.
At the same time, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which had also floated an export tender of 25,000 mt early this month has cancelled the offer, while local e-auction sales conducted by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have attracted a poor response and the bulk of pig iron on offer remained unsold.
“ While unsuccessful export bids impacted sentiments, I would expect local pig iron prices to remain range-bound with most producers maintaining base prices unchanged in the current month and buyers particularly in the foundry sector being cautious about restocking raw material,” a Kolkata-based trader said.
$1 = INR 69.56