India's PELLEX remains stable amid holiday and fiscal year-end

• Buying interest remains muted amid festival
  
  
• Market awaits for the new financial year
  
  

BigMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index remained stable at INR 9,200/t DAP ($109/t) Raipur on 29 March 2024 compared to the last assessment on 27 March. Only 4,000 t raw pellet (Fe 63%) deals were recorded at INR 9,250-9,350/t in this publishing window amid cautious buying by Raipur sponge makers.

The Raipur pellet market remained muted in the last two days following a sluggish response from buyers and bearish market sentiments amid the Good Friday holiday. The buyers from Raipur were reluctant for any bookings while sellers kept prices stable.

Godawari Power and Ispat Ltd (GPIL) kept pellet offers stable at INR 9,400-9,500/t ($113-114/t) exw-Raipur. Other major pellet maker offers from Raipur remained stable at INR 9,100-9,200/t ($109-110/t) exw.

A market participant commented: "The market is seeing a slowdown as buyers have paused their positive buying ahead of the financial year's end. As we approach the start of the new fiscal year, participants are taking the cautious wait-and-watch stance in hopes of getting information. The export market is exerting pressure, and the market sentiment is muted overall due to Good Friday."

The Raipur landed offers for Odisha-based material are recorded around INR 200-600/t ($2.4-8/t) lower than local offers but sponge makers awaited for Raipur pellet corrections.

A trader from Raipur said: "The market will get clarity next week as new financial year start and buyers expected to get new unclear funds which may boost transactions in the Raipur region."

In yesterday's NMDC auction from Chhattisgarh, 42,000 t of iron ore DRCLO (10-40 mm, Fe 67%) got booked at the base price of INR 7,030/t ($84/t), and 105,000 t of iron ore fines (Fe 64%) got booked at INR 5,140/t ($61/t) against the base price of INR 5,100/t ($61/t) from Bacheli mines. However, 12,600 t of ROM (10-150 mm, Fe 65.5%) from Bacheli and 84,000 t of ROM (10-150 mm, Fe 65.5%) from Kirandul received no bids. Prices were set on FOR basis, including royalty, DMF and NMET.

Rationale

• PELLEX has been derived using data points, i.e., trades, offers, and bids. To download the detailed methodology Click here.
  
  
• Two (2) deals were reported so far in this publishing window but not taken into account for price calculation and accorded 0% weightage for T1 trade.
  
  
• Thirteen (13) firm offers, bids, and indicative prices were heard. Seven (7) were taken for price calculation and given the balance 100% weightage.
  
  

Market highlights

• Sponge P-DRI up w-o-w: BigMint's P-DRI (FeM 80%) prices increased by INR 450/t ($6/t) w-o-w to INR 27,000/t ($323/t) exw on 29 March. Meanwhile, the assessment for sponge iron in Raipur fell by INR 100/t ($1/t) d-o-d today. Prices fell on lack of buying inquiries in the spot market today. As a result, suppliers in various regions of the country reduced their offers.
  
  
• Billet prices rise w-o-w: Billet prices in Raipur rose by INR 450/t ($6/t) w-o-w to INR 40,000/t ($481/t) exw on 29 March. Additionally, prices decreased by INR 150/t ($2/t) d-o-d. The index experienced a downfall after sufficient procurement over the last few days, leading to a decrease in offerings d-o-d.
  
  

Outlook

Pellet prices in the Raipur market are expected to remain volatile in the next week and deals may conclude with the start of the new financial year.