The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by Rs600/mt($8.08/mt) to Rs36,200/mt del Mandi Gobindgarh and the index for sponge iron rose by Rs200/mt to Rs35,000/mt del mills amid sign of recovery in finished steel market.
Domestic ferrous scrap prices remained firm on Thursday as inquiries for finished steel gained momentum. Ferrous scrap suppliers pushed their offers up owing to low scrap availability.
The daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) rose by Rs600/mt ($8.08/mt) to Rs36,200/mt del Mandi Gobindgarh and the index for sponge iron rose by Rs200/mt to Rs35,000/mt del mills.
Steelmakers in Mumbai procured ferrous scrap on a need basis and the daily Davis Index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled flat at Rs35,000/mt del mills and the index for sponge iron rose by Rs700/mt to Rs31,300/mt del Mumbai mills.
Secondary mills preferred sponge over scrap as the supply of HMS is tight in the local market and imported scrap is not viable owing to high prices, shared market participants.
The bi-weekly index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled flat at Rs35,700/mt del Durgapur mills and the index for sponge iron rose by Rs200/mt to Rs30,800/mt del mills.
Mills in the South were silent as they gauged the current market situation before procuring raw material. The index for HMS 1&2 (80:20) settled unchanged at Rs33,000/mt del Chennai mills and the index for sponge iron settled flat at Rs30,600/mt del mills.
The bi-weekly index for HMS 1&2(80:20) settled unchanged at Rs33,500/mt del Goa mills and the index for sponge iron remained flat at Rs30,500/mt del mills.
Major steel mills are eying for a price hike post-Aug 21 for finished steel as demand is expected to improve. This might support ferrous scrap prices as availability remains to be low. Market participants exhibited bullish sentiments on Thursday.
Shipbreaking scrap prices continued to remain flat amid transportation strike and trades are expected to resume once the demands of the transporters are fulfilled followed by a concrete agreement.
($1=Rs74.2)