Sponge iron prices in India looks to be range bound in coming weeks. On one side, falling imports of Scrap have given support to Sponge prices, while, on the other side, weak demand for finish goods will not give much scope to price rise.
Indian sponge iron prices, which had corrected to 2-years low in the month of July 2013, had recovered back sharply owing to weak Rupee. Traders and manufacturers say that prices are likely to be in a range before Indian market heads for Diwali holidays.
“We feel that prices have stabilized at these levels. We neither see major corrections nor do any upraise. Overall Iron ore and Pellet availability is also decent. Also, with upcoming elections in some states in India, construction activities will not be that aggressive.” said a Sponge manufacturer based in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Indian Sponge Iron Monthly Avg Prices
According to Sponge manufacturers based in Southern India, markets are still bad as Iron ore supply is poor in Karnataka and with Scrap available at a low price, buyers are not willing to pay high rates for Sponge iron. Only good thing for Sponge manufacturers is imports of Scrap is down, which has kept demand for Sponge iron intact.
India is largest Sponge iron producer in the world with an annual production of around 19 million tonnes. However production is way below the installed capacity according to Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association of India (SIMA).
Leave a Reply