India: Primary Steel Mills Hike Rebar Prices for April

India's major mills that are producing steel through the blast furnace route have raised their finished long steel prices by around INR 500-1,000/MT (USD 7-14) across regions.

As per closed sources with the major mills - SAIL, RINL (Vizag Steel), JSW Steel & Tata Steel, have announced increase in Rebar prices by INR 500-1,000/MT for April deliveries across India.

Further, as per officials, who are associated with particular brands have shared, low inventory levels in major specified regions led to price hike in finish long commodities. Moreover another key factor notified is, peak season for construction activities, this has influenced producers to keep prices strong.

Prior to this, few large mills were seen offering some discounts on selected commodities in finish long by INR 500-800/MT, as per sources towards end of Mar'19.

After consideration of price revision, the latest price assessment of large mills Rebar stood at close to INR 41,600-42,200/MT ex-Delhi and INR 41,000-41,500/MT ex-Mumbai. Prices are for 12 mm size & excluding 18% GST.

Meanwhile it would be interesting to evaluate the actual demand amid upcoming elections where most of the participants assuming slight volatility could be seen in near term.