The daily Davis Index for billet in Mumbai on Wednesday was down by Rs100/mt ($1.36/mt) and settled at Rs30,650/mt ($417/mt) ex-works on subdued buying from re-rolling mills. Billet offers were at 30,700/mt and bids at Rs30,600/mt but no deal were reported at index prices. The daily Index for rebar in Mumbai remained flat for the third day at Rs33,900/mt ($461.22/mt) ex-works on limited trades.
Rebar demand is primarily driven by construction sector which has slowed down majorly in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) due to constraints like labour availability in the sites and liquidity.
A leading secondary steel maker in Mumbai told Davis Index that such a slump in demand has not been witnessed in the last few years and mills are struggling to sell rebar. Mills continued to hold offers and kept it unchanged since 26 August.
In Raipur, the daily index for billet decreased by Rs200/mt at Rs29,950/mt ($407.48/mt) ex-works on low demand while the index for rebar remained unchanged at Rs33,200/mt ($451.7/mt) ex-works. Few steel makers in Central India said that there was healthy demand in finished steel on Tuesday but it cooled off on Wednesday. Pellet sponge offers marginally fell to Rs20,000/mt ($261.43/mt) ex-works with limited trades.
In Mandi Gobindgarh, the daily index for ingot was down by Rs450/mt to settle at Rs32,950/mt ($448.29/mt) ex-works in line with decline in local scrap prices. The daily index for rebar was also down by Rs400/mt at Rs38,150/mt ($519.04/mt) ex-works on sluggish sales.
($1=Rs73.59)