India: SAIL Receives Dull Response for 18,000 MT Pig iron Auction

The company kept base prices unchanged for today's auction and nearly 10-11% material was booked.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) - India's govt. owned steel maker has received poor response in today's auction for 18,000 MT steel grade Pig iron from its Rourkela Steel plant (RSP) located in eastern India.

As per participants, in today's auction the producer has kept base prices same at INR 26,450/MT (ex-plant) as against last auction which was held on 27th Mar'19 for 5,900 MT.

As per reports, the response in the fresh pig iron auction was quite weak as only about 2,000 MT material have been booked at base price of INR 26,450/MT (ex-plant), while remaining about 16,000 MT (89-90%) remained unsold.

The sources believe that, the participation was low by the traders in line with expectation of further drop in prices in coming days. Meanwhile, healthier supply by private mills is another key factor for the weak response in the auction. Indian pig iron producers are suffering due to weak response from the furnace owners.

Today, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) - India’s largest and state-owned steel grade pig iron manufacturer & exporter has also rolled-over steel grade pig iron prices and floated at INR 26,250-26,650/MT ex-plant, Cuttack, Odisha.