Due to a sudden drop in the cost of raw materials in the international market, domestic prices of steel products have fallen below Rs. 250,000 per tonne.
According to JS Research, domestic steel producers International Steels Limited (ISL) and Aisha Steel Mills Limited (ASL) announced a Rs. 12,000 per tonne decrease in Cold Rolled Coil (CRC) and Hot Dipped Galvanized Coil (HDGC) prices on Thursday. The new price for 1 mm CRC is Rs. 230,550 per tonne, and Rs. 237,900 per tonne for HDGC, effective August 17, 2022.
Due to massive increases in project completion costs, the construction industry has recently struggled with pricing its housing units, with steel prices increasing significantly in the last few months alone.
Today’s drop in steel prices is most likely due to lower scrap costs, as well as a slowing in domestic demand. According to additional research, the rupee’s recent appreciation may have aided today’s sharp drop in domestic steel prices.
Steel prices began to rise in December 2020 as a result of an increase in the global marketplace, which was fueled by the restoration of economic activity worldwide following the lifting of lockdowns.
Another issue for steel companies was the high freight cost of imported containers, which had persisted over the previous two years, owing largely to the pandemic. Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan, several major firms initiated real estate projects, and the market has welcomed today’s drop in steel costs, despite the seesaw trends that followed.
