The weekly indexes for domestic brass scrap grades in Delhi dropped while it rose in Jamnagar on the back of a $287/mt spike in the three-month LME copper contract from the prior week. Market participants reported subdued demand in several parts of India and slow imports due to copper prices rising on LME. Importers said there is a scarcity of imported honey, and the prices in the domestic market are likely to rise further if imports continue to remain weak.
The LME three-month copper contract rose to $8,419/mt on February 16 from $8,132/mt on February 9. Market participants in Jamnagar reported slow trades, from domestic buyers as well as Chinese bidders.
New Chinese bids for brass billets did not materialise while last week bids stood at $5,150-5,200/mt. Jamnagar exports 2,000mt of brass ingots to China per month. Exporters of brass billets shared that trades at these levels were not viable as scrap prices in the international market continued its upward swing.
The weekly Davis Index for imported Honey brass, Wednesday, settled at Rs379,000/mt from Rs386,000/mt del Delhi consumer, down by Rs7,000/mt ($96.09/mt). In Jamnagar, the weekly Index for this grade settled at Rs400,000/mt del consumer, up by Rs20,333/mt ($279.13/mt).
The weekly Davis Index for Honey domestic origin (Purja) settled at Rs365,500/mt del Delhi consumer, down by Rs2,167/mt ($29.74/mt). The weekly index for Honey domestic origin (Vilayati) settled at Rs381,538/mt del Jamnagar consumer, up by Rs17,788/mt($244.19/mt).
($1= Rs72.84)