The news of devastating floods in coking coal producing region of Australia, which actually started in the month of December when most of the coking coal producers declared force majeure, was spread like wild fire in Indian steel market in January beginning and has created a hype among buyers that there is no tomorrow.
Thus the sentiments in the Indian steel market remained absolutely positive although all the steel majors normally carry 45 days to 60 days inventory of coking coal.
The rampage in long product market in India seems to have become customary with yet another day of gigantic leap in prices. Most mystifying characteristics has not only been the sustained growth in prices but the quantum has been equally big. Starting from scrap down to TMT bars the prices went up phenomenally completing the chain in style.
The market is facing a paradox as at some locations the prices of rebars from secondary manufacturers are either at same or higher levels as compared to main producers like TATA Steel, SAIL and RINL etc, although it is not possible to buy from main producers at their announce prices due to negligible inventories. Thus it is expected that some of the steel majors will announce price massive hike in coming days to remove this aberration.
On the other hand, prices of input materials for secondary steel mills and rolling units, after climbing for about 30 days by about 15% to 20% in most of the locations, have started to weaken in last 4 days. The prices of sponge iron at Raipur, one of most important locations for long products in India and a trendsetter, have come down by INR 800 per tonne and for pencil ingot by INR 900 per tonne.
Thus, we need to wait for the market movement in coming days to understand the trends that have the long product prices reached peak to start correcting or the cost driven sentiments leading to panic among buyers would prevail.
Replicating the long product market the flat product prices have also joined the frolic albeit for divergent reasons. Across the country there is a streak of commonality about shortage of material. Most of the manufacturers have declared a hand to mouth situation wherein the inventory levels touched the nadir.
In the after math of floods in Australian coal mines most of the Indian mills are gasping for fuel to meet their production targets. The mills in turn are prudently allocating limited volumes to OEM and projects vis à vis retail setting the retail in frenzy among buyers.
The ensuing environment is veritable ground for speculators and middlemen who are fanning the fire to maximize profitability. Ironically it is learnt that most of the traders and stockiest are brimming with stock nonetheless they are aggressively pursuing further volumes to thrive on the psychosis.
The end user demand per se remains only slightly geared up in the pre budget months as completion targets have to be met by 31st March.
The Indian Long Product Price Index ILPPI went up by 312 points last week whereas Indian Flat Products Index IFPPI also up by 191 points. The overall price index INDSPI inclined by 254 points.
| Class | 07-Jan | 14-Jan | Change | % |
| ILPPI | 7678 | 7990 | 312 | 4.1% |
| IFPPI | 8048 | 8238 | 191 | 2.4% |
| INDSPI | 7854 | 8108 | 254 | 3.2% |
ILPPI - Indian Long Product Price Index
IFPPI - Indian Flat Product Price Index
INDSPI - Indian Steel Price Index
Long Products
| Category | 07-Jan | 14-Jan | Change | % |
| PI - TMT | 7643 | 8024 | 382 | 5.0% |
| PI - WRC | 7879 | 8146 | 267 | 3.4% |
| PI - Angle | 7468 | 7742 | 274 | 3.7% |
| PI - Channel | 7542 | 7810 | 268 | 3.5% |
| PI - Joist | 7076 | 7338 | 262 | 3.7% |
PI - Product Index
Flat products
| Category | 07-Jan | 14-Jan | Change | % |
| PI - Narrow Plates | 7574 | 7778 | 203 | 2.7% |
| PI - Wide Plates | 7902 | 8025 | 122 | 1.5% |
| PI - Hot Rolled | 7741 | 7963 | 222 | 2.9% |
| PI - Cold Rolled | 9022 | 9197 | 175 | 1.9% |
| PI - Galvanized | 8661 | 8764 | 102 | 1.2% |
PI - Product Index
These indices have base of 10,000 as on July 1st 2008
To know more about these indices please visit
http://steelprices-india.com/spi_services/spi.html
1. Input material
Melting scrap
80:20
HMS
| Location | Change |
| Chennai | 7% |
| Hyderabad | 0% |
| Kandla | 2% |
| Kanpur | 8% |
| Kolkata | 8% |
| Mandi | 0% |
| Mumbai | 3% |
| Rudrapur | 6% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Alang
| Product | Size | Change |
| Plate cuttings | 1" | 2% |
| Ships | Mixed | 5% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Pencil ingot
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 7% |
| Alang | 5% |
| Bhiwari | 3% |
| Chennai | 5% |
| Durgapur | 3% |
| Ghaziabad | 1% |
| Hyderabad | 0% |
| Jaipur | 4% |
| Jamshedpur | 8% |
| Kanpur | 4% |
| Kolkata | 3% |
| Mandi | 1% |
| Mumbai | 2% |
| Muzzafarnagar | 0% |
| Nagpur | 3% |
| Raigarh | 0% |
| Raipur | 0% |
| Rourkela | 4% |
| Rudrapur | 4% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Pig Iron
| Location | Change |
| Agra | 6% |
| Jallandhar | 5% |
| Kolkata | 6% |
| Raipur | 6% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Sponge iron
| Location | Change |
| Bellary | 6% |
| Kolkata | 5% |
| Raigarh | 2% |
| Raipur | 4% |
| Rourkela | 3% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
2. Long products
Rebar (TMT QST)
Fe 415
12mm
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 6% |
| Bangalore | 8% |
| Chennai | 5% |
| Delhi | 7% |
| Indore | 4% |
| Kanpur | 3% |
| Kolkata | 6% |
| Mandi | 3% |
| Mumbai | 2% |
| Muzaffarnagar | 4% |
| Raipur | 7% |
| Rudrapur | 4% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
WRC
SWR14
5.5/6
| Location | Change |
| Chennai | 4% |
| Delhi | 3% |
| Kanpur | 2% |
| Kolkata | 3% |
| Raipur | 4% |
| Rudrapur | 2% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
ANGL
Grade A
65X65X6
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 4% |
| Bangalore | 6% |
| Chennai | 3% |
| Delhi | 6% |
| Indore | 5% |
| Kanpur | 4% |
| Kolkata | 1% |
| Mandi | 2% |
| Mumbai | 2% |
| Raipur | 4% |
| Rudrapur | 3% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
CHNL
Grade A
75/40
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 4% |
| Bangalore | 6% |
| Chennai | 2% |
| Delhi | 6% |
| Indore | 5% |
| Kanpur | 4% |
| Kolkata | 2% |
| Mandi | 2% |
| Mumbai | 2% |
| Raipur | 4% |
| Rudrapur | 5% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
JSTI
Grade A
250X125
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 3% |
| Bangalore | 6% |
| Chennai | 3% |
| Delhi | 6% |
| Indore | 3% |
| Kanpur | 6% |
| Kolkata | 1% |
| Mandi | 2% |
| Mumbai | 2% |
| Raipur | 4% |
| Rudrapur | 7% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
3. Flat products
HRC
Tube
2.5x1250
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 0% |
| Bangalore | 1% |
| Chennai | 13% |
| Delhi | 7% |
| Indore | 1% |
| Kolkata | 1% |
| Ludhiana | 4% |
| Mumbai | 0% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Patra
| Location | Change |
| Delhi | 7% |
| Ludhiana | 2% |
| Mandi | 3% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Plates
Grade A
8X1250/1500
| Location | Change |
| Chennai | 4% |
| Delhi | 7% |
| Kanpur | 4% |
| Kolkata | 0% |
| Mumbai | 0% |
| Rudrapur | 3% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
Plates
GRADE B
12-20X2500
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 3% |
| Bangalore | 0% |
| Chennai | 2% |
| Delhi | 4% |
| Indore | 5% |
| Kanpur | 2% |
| Kolkata | 1% |
| Mumbai | 0% |
| Raipur | 3% |
| Rudrapur | 2% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
CR
DSK
0.63x1000
| Location | Change |
| Ahmedabad | 3% |
| Chennai | 5% |
| Delhi | 2% |
| Kanpur | 2% |
| Kolkata | 0% |
| Mumbai | 0% |
| Pune | 0% |
| Rudrapur | 2% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
GP
100Gms
0.4
| Location | Change |
| Mumbai | 0% |
| Chennai | 3% |
| Kolkata | 0% |
| Delhi | 3% |
| Ludhiana | 1% |
| Kanpur | 1% |
| Rudrapur | 1% |
| Bangalore | 3% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
GC
100Gms
0.4
| Location | Change |
| Bangalore | 3% |
| Chennai | 3% |
| Delhi | 3% |
| Kanpur | 1% |
| Kolkata | 0% |
| Mumbai | 0% |
| Ludhiana | 1% |
| Rudrapur | 1% |
Change is on Jan 14th as compared to 7th Jan 2011
www.steelprices-india.com is a comprehensive portal that provides domestic pricing information for benchmark steel products in each category at select location in India on a regular basis 5 days a week and international price levels on a weekly basis.
As steel in each category comes in hundreds of grades shapes and sizes, we have taken benchmark products in each category at select locations to cover the entire basket of garden variety of steel products including input material for steel making and processing.
Products covered
1. Input materials - Iron ore, scrap, sponge iron, pig iron pencil ingot, billets and blooms
2. Long products - Rebar, wire rod, angle, channel and joists
3. Flat products - Narrow plates, wide plates, HR, CR and galvanized
4. Others - Pipes
5. FOB Levels - China, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey
Methodology and access
1. Benchmark products in each category with fixed commonly used sizes and grades
2. Base prices or effective, as per market trends
3. Average transaction levels which have settled well, based on continuous interactions with domestic mills, overseas suppliers,Importers stockiest & service centers and buyers
4. On fixed market oriented payment terms
5. Daily updates
6. Data available since July 2008
5. Access through web site
Price basis
Without ED and VAT for all products except for rebar and sections
Other features
The prices are displayed on weekly and monthly basis. They also have search facilities to access old data from the archives. Graphical representation of trends and comparison of price movement 2 or more products is also available.
In addition, you can monitor currency exchange rates, metal prices, BDI for the day as well as access their archives for past data.
Other features include converters for weight, length etc, glossary and advanced search functions. The benchmark product price information is supplemented by global pricing news.
Subscription charges for 12 months access
| Currency | Single | 2-5 | 6-12 | 13-25 | 26-40 | 40-60 |
| INR | 66,000 | 132,000 | 220,000 | 440,000 | 660,000 | 880,000 |
| USD | 1,650 | 3,300 | 5,500 | 11,000 | 16,500 | 22,000 |
How to subscribe
1. Register at www.steelprices-india.com and pay on line or ask for invoice
2. Send mail to admin@steelprices-india.com.
3. Call at 0091-124-3007891/2/3
(Sourced from www.steelprices-india.com)
