Indian Sponge makers are cautious over high input cost and low trade prices in the domestic market. Albeit, Iron ore & coal prices are rising consistently, Sponge iron prices are falling down.
Limited supply of Iron ore and coal has created barrier for Sponge manufacturers. Prices in the domestic market have fallen only by INR 400-800/MT. C-DRI is being offered at INR 19,500-21,300/MT. While, Pellet sponge (P-DRI) offers are hovering in the range of INR 17,700-19,300/MT (FeM 78-80; ex-works).
Sponge manufacturers based in eastern India stated, “We are waiting for rise in steel demand & prices. If the scenario continues, we will prefer to shutdown the plants in coming days because there is requirement of minimum price gap of around INR 12,000/MT between Iron pellet and Pellet sponge. The present high prices of Iron pellet (INR 9,000/MT) and lowest prices of Pellet sponge (INR 19,000/MT) are creating loss of around INR 1,000-2,000/MT to us.”
Scrap Prices correct by over USD 30/MT in last 1-month
One of the prime reasons that is building pressure on Indian Sponge iron prices are falling offers of imported Scrap, which have corrected by over USD 30/MT in last 1-month.
Current offers for HMS 1&2 from Middle East/Europe/Africa are in the range of USD 335-338/MT CIF Nhava Sheva, which was at USD 365-370/Mt a month back.
Offers for Iron Pellet & Sponge Iron
|
Market |
Iron Pellet (Fe 63) |
Pellet Sponge (FeM 78-80) |
Sponge Iron (FeM 78-80) |
|
Jharsuguda/Rourkela(Odisha) |
8,400 |
18,600-18,700 |
19,500-19,700 |
|
Durgapur (West Bengal) |
8,200-9,000 |
19,000 |
21,000 |
|
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) |
8,600-8,800 |
19,300 |
21,300 |
|
Bellary (Karnataka) |
7,950 |
17,700 |
19,600 |
All basic prices are in INR/MT (ex-works)
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