India resumed rebar exports Feb. 18 after a six-month hiatus as its prices prove competitive with supplies from other origins such as Turkey and China, market sources said Feb. 19.

          Several deals were heard in Singapore and Hong Kong for sales by two major Indian rebar exporters, JSPL and JSW, to end-users on Feb. 18. The deals were booked by traders before the Lunar New Year at $610/mt CFR Singapore theoretical weight for April shipment and sold to end-users as position cargoes, market sources said.

          These were the first export trades from India since August 2020, according to S&P Global Platts observations.

          “Currently Indian mills are bullish on prices. Chinese futures are also increasing,” a trader in India said, adding that JSW was not allocating more rebar for export after the deals and JSPL was striving for above $635/mt CFR Singapore.

          A mill source in India said domestic demand has been strong and domestic prices were high, equating to $635/mt in Mumbai, reducing interest in export sales.

          However, export prices for Indian rebar were currently lower than from origins such as Turkey and China at $645/mt CFR Singapore and $665/mt CFR Singapore, respectively.

          “I think they want to export the excess material so that they [India mills] don't have selling pressure in the domestic market,” a second India trader said.

---Steel Business Briefing---