Indian Primary Steel Mills May Announce a Price Hike of up to Rs 2,000/ton for Jan 2023

Indian primary steel mills are planning to further increase their finished long steel offers by Rs 1,000-2,000/t ($12-24) for Jan 2023 deliveries, officials indicated.

The price hike will largely see in rebars and also wire rod offers will strengthen for Jan deliveries.

Meanwhile, the same price hike was also seen for December 2022 for the distributors’ orders and the offers for the last week of December were hovering at Rs 56,500-57,000/ton ex works, Mumbai, western India.

Below are key factors that are influencing mills to keep prices strong:

• Approaching the last quarter of the fiscal year has boosted demand with them and largely from the major government projects. Also, demand from end-user segments improves, as per mediators of respected companies.

• The mills are currently running dry in terms of finished steel stock, especially in rebars for particular sizes, hence, in some orders premium is being charged, as per trade sources.

• Significant price hike through the secondary mills (Rs 2,000–3,000/ton in Dec) is pushing primary mills to keep prices higher. The price gap between the primary and secondary mills is currently low and hovering at Rs 2,000/ton in major locations, which should not be less than of Rs 3,000-4,000/ton.

• The mills are also bullish in terms of exports. As per them, post-resume activities in the global market, it seems exports of Indian steel will gain momentum.

• BF route rebar manufacturers located in the eastern region reported that their hot metal production was less during November, hence, the supply of finished steel has also been affected in the spot market.

• Rising prices of raw materials (Coking coal & Iron ore) are also a key factor behind the continued surge in prices of primary steel mills. Coking coal prices rose about $40/ton in December and currently stood at $300-305/t CNF India, also India Iron ore prices were up by Rs 400-600/t in a month duration, which are expected to rise further for January dispatch.

Also Read:- Indian Steel Prices Rise Further Despite Moderate Inquiries – 28 December