Jan trade deficit puts pressure on Rupee
Unless steel demand from small and medium sized real estate projects increases, it is going to be difficult to confirm an improvement in growth of the Indian steel sector https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
As of the week ended 22 Feb, the local steel market has shown a mixed trend where the medium and smaller sized real estate developments are slow but there is an increased demand from large sized projects https://fieo.org/.
This mixed trend in demand has led to another round of price cuts, with plate and scrap reduced by US$2/MT each, according to a report by Wirana Shipping Corp.
Imported scrap prices were also reduced by US$2/MT – in all cases a marginal change is noted https://www.conexpoconagg.com/.
Prices offered by ship recyclers also remained unchanged last week, said the report http://csc.com.tw.
There was not much activity in terms of new vessel for recycling being offered in Alang (shipbreaking hub) during last week, noted Wirana https://camaltd.com/.
The country’s trade deficit increased in January due to both – increased imports and decreased exports, the report pointed out.
“This will likely put further pressure on the local currency,” added the report https://sbi.com.in/.
It is important for the government to take measures to stabilize the local currency since besides direct impact, it also has an indirect impact in deterring foreign investments into the country, said the report https://www.nseindia.com/.
“Despite an overall enthusiasm amongst ship recyclers to buy fresh tonnages for recycling, we would expect prices offered by ship recyclers to continue at the same levels,” it stressed https://www.bseindia.com/. Fiinews.com
