India’s domestic sponge iron market opened today with a slight price change of INR 100/MT, however on weekly basis prices fell by INR 100-300/MT on account of drop in billet offers.
Currently, the coal based sponge (78-80 FeM) C-DRI price assessment stood at INR 16,500-17,800/MT (USD 232-251); prices are ex-plant & excluding GST.
As per SteelMint’s price assessment, the offers gradually drop since a week duration in Raipur & Durgapur due to limited trades on account of drop in billet prices and production as well, as mentioned by participants.
Presently offers for P-DRI are assessed at INR 16,500-16,600/MT ex-Raipur & INR 16,800/MT in Durgapur; ex-plant & excluding GST.
The manufacturers claimed that, there is no scope for drop in price range, however due to lowering billet prices amid drop in furnaces output, they are reluctant to cut prices.
Meanwhile, it was also learned that due to high cost pellets, the standalone sponge plants are shifting towards lumps production due to premium in sale price by about INR 800-1,000/MT in line to maintain input cost.
The pellet manufacturers in Central India being confirmed that, there are no major bookings by standalone sponge manufacturers, however healthy bookings cited when the prices were cheaper by INR 200-300/MT than the current offers.
However in Southern India, Karnataka the major sponge producers have maintained prices on account of supply crunch by small/mid sized kilns due to temporary issue on billing system(GST). Thus, the largest sponge manufacturer in Bellary being reported healthy deals for P-DRI at the firm price range of INR 16,800-16,900/MT ex-plant.
On outlook, the sources are assuming that, sponge prices may remain rangebound due to rising raw materials & average finished steel demand, which may force producers to keep prices steady to maintain margins.
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