Billet prices continued its uptrend with positive market sentiments. The daily Davis Index for billet in Raipur increased by Rs200/mt ($3/mt) to Rs37,200/mt ($514/mt) ex-works due to sustained demand along with high Sponge iron prices. Many billet deals were reported at Rs37,000/mt ($511/mt) for outstation markets.
Pellet Sponge offers were at Rs26,000/mt ($359/mt) ex-works with hardly any takers. The index for rebar remained unchanged at Rs41,000/mt ($566/mt) ex-works Raipur on healthy rebar sales. Most of the secondary mills in Raipur are operating at normal capacity led by the strong demand from the end-users.
In Mumbai, the daily index for billet increased by Rs500/mt to Rs40,300/mt ex-works following rise in rebar prices. The index for rebar increased by Rs300/mt at Rs45,000/mt ex-works. In Jalna, the bi-weekly index for billet rose by Rs500/mt to Rs40,000/mt ex-works from Tuesday, while rebar increased Rs1,000/mt to Rs46,000/mt ex-works on robust sales.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot remained unchanged at Rs39,700/mt ex-works. In Ludhiana, the bi-weekly index for ingot was up by Rs200/mt to Rs39,500/mt ex-works on Thursday.
In Chennai, the bi-weekly index for billet and rebar settled unchanged at Rs40,000/mt and Rs45,000/mt ex-works, respectively, compared to Tuesday. A few billet suppliers said local scrap prices are lower by Rs1,000/mt compared to imported scrap but due to low availability of the former, they are buying imported ones too.
($1=Rs72.43)