Steel firms roll over prices in January after steep correction in December

The rationale for prices to hold rests on a bunch of factors. Indian prices while similar to import price parity were still among the lowest prices globally, companies point out

After a steep correction in December, steel companies have rolled over prices in January and believe that the market may have bottomed out. 

According to data from SteelMint, trade prices for hot rolled coil (HRC) – a benchmark for flat steel – stood at Rs 67,500 a tonne at the beginning of December and at Rs 63,100 at the end of the month. In the long products, rebar prices were at Rs 57,500 a tonne at the beginning of December and was at Rs 54,500 towards the end of last month.

A Kotak Institutional Equities report said domestic steel mills lowered HRC