India: BigMint's billet index witnesses marginal gains amid limited buying

• Higher spot offers fail to trigger strong buying interest
  
  
• Weak downstream demand weighs on market sentiment
  
  

BigMint's billet index recorded a marginal increase of INR 100/t d-o-d to INR 39,300/t exw-Raipur on 29 May 2025, supported by moderate spot bookings despite restrained trading activity in the semi-finished steel segment.

The market opened on a positive note, with sellers raising spot offers slightly during the day. However, higher billet offers failed to receive adequate support from buyers, as weak finished steel demand continued to limit enquiries in the semis market. Buyers largely maintained lower bids, resulting in range-bound sentiment and opportunity-based trading throughout the session.

Market participants indicated that competitive pricing strategies were adopted by sellers to conclude deals amid uncertain demand conditions. Traders noted that although billet offers moved higher initially, cautious buying behaviour and slow downstream steel movement prevented any significant recovery in market confidence.

Finished steel demand softens

In Raipur, demand across finished steel and raw material segments remained weak, keeping overall market sentiment cautious. Sponge iron and wire rod prices remained largely stable amid limited buying activity, while rebar prices declined marginally by INR 100/t d-o-d due to slow enquiries from the retail market.

Participants indicated that weak downstream demand continues to restrict billet procurement and inventory replenishment activity.

Sponge iron stayed firm

Sponge iron prices in the Raipur cluster remains stable during the session, although buying activity was limited. Market participants reported that slow movement in both billets and finished steel prevented stronger momentum in the DRI market.

The conversion spread from sponge iron (PDRI) to billets for standalone induction furnaces in the Raipur cluster was assessed at INR 14,200/t.

Rationale

This index is derived based on transactions, offers, bids, and indicative price data sets. Transactions are considered T1 and given a weightage of 50%, whereas other data sets are considered as T2 and given a weightage of the balance 50%.

• Transactions (T1) - Five trades at INR 39,100-39,400/t were recorded during the 10:30 am to 5:30 pm BigMint trading window and considered for final price calculation as T1 inputs. The average of these transactions was INR 39,238/t, which was given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  
• Other price indicators - bids/offers/indicatives (T2) - Eighteen offers were reported in the trading window and considered as T2 inputs. The average price of these eighteen was INR 39,392/t and given a 50% weightage in the final price calculation.
  
  

The final price of billets was INR 39,315/t exw-Raipur, rounded off to INR 39,300/t exw.

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