Sponge sellers based in Raigarh and Rourkela are aggressively looking for buyers due to shutdown of Raigarh based 23-24 units in Jindal Industrial Park, Punjipatra.
Raigarh based furnaces that have been closed since friday (1st Apr’16) use to purchase sponge from Odisha and few quantity from the local market.
At present, buyers are less for sponge as compared to higher number of sellers in Raigarh and Rourkela. As a result, sponge (C-DRI) offers in Raigarh fell instantly by INR 300-500/MT to INR 11,700-11,800/MT, which were traded before plants closure at around INR 12,000-12,300/MT (ex-plant).
As per market participants, if furnaces will remain closed in Raigarh for 15-20 days, sponge prices in Raigarh, Raipur and Rourkela will fall sharply.
Looking at the situation, ingot/billet makers are taking advantage and waiting for further corrections in sponge offers.
Trade highlights
1. A Jalna based billet maker reported that he has received an offer to purchase 500 MT P-DRI lump from Raipur at INR 11,900/MT ex-plant. General offers for mix material are in the range of INR 12,000-12,300/MT.
2. Raigarh makers sold sponge (C-DRI; 79-80 FeM) to landed Raipur on Saturday at INR 12,700-12,800/MT.
3. NMDC (Chhattisgarh) increased iron ore prices by INR 140-270/MT for Apr’16 deliveries. Odisha based miners are likely to increase lump prices by approx INR 150/MT this week.
4. Rourkela is offering 80 FeM C-DRI lumps at approx INR 11,700-11,900/MT on CST billing; mostly selling to west & north based smelters.
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