OfBusiness Structure Dailies

17th April’23

Price

• Although there was a slight increase in secondary prices last week, the market remained moderate. On the other hand, there have been no significant changes in the pricing of Structural Steel in the Primary market, as prices have remained the same for the past two months.
• Primary mills’ offers for 100 x 50 Channel were around Rs 56,000/ton, Rs 59,500/ton, and Rs 58,000/ton for Durgapur, Chennai, and Hyderabad, respectively, on an ex-works basis.
• Secondary re-rolling mills were offering 100 x 50 Channel at around Rs 52,000-52,500/ton, Rs 51,300-51,700/ton, Rs 55,000/ton, and Rs 53500/ton ex-Raipur, ex-Raigarh, ex-Chennai, and ex-Hyderabad respectively.

Demand and Supply

• Demand for both primary and Structural Steel remains low, while there is no supply shortfall for light Structures. SAIL has not rolled ISMB for several months, causing problems for certain railway projects. Slow orders are leading to high inventory levels for distributors and manufacturers.

News

• JSPL is offering MOQ-based pricing on a trial basis to increase demand and encourage larger orders, with potential savings of Rs 1,500-5,000/ton.
• The Steel Ministry has confirmed that the disinvestment process of RINL will proceed as planned but has also called on the management to improve performance in the meantime.

OFB’s Opinion

• The recent movement in secondary pricing appears to be solely driven by the manufacturer, as there is no market news or sentiment supporting the increase. As a result, further price increases are less likely to happen, and there are some possibilities for reductions this week. The primary market, however, is expected to remain unchanged.