Ludhiana: In a double whammy for the iron and steel traders dealing in various types of raw material, including HR coil, wire rod, TMT bars, round bars, among others, there is a huge drop in demand for these products and on the other hand steel-producing companies are pressuring them to buy more stock. According to businessmen, rates of steel products have registered a slight drop, but the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), who are biggest consumers of these products, are anticipating a further fall and purchasing only in limited quantities. Maninder Pal Guliani, president of Ludhiana Beopar Mandal, says, “In the last two months, there has been no buyer in the market for steel due to low demand in the domestic sector. On the other hand, steel companies are not correcting the prices, though there has been a small drop. Present market rate of HR coil is Rs 62,000 per tonne, which means there is a correction of around Rs 7,000 per tonne in two months, but still the demand is low as the buyer is expecting more correction. The price correction in long products is around Rs 8,000 per tonne, but that too has failed to bring an upward movement in demand.”