Sponge Offers Drifted Up to INR 400/MT in South India

Sponge offers in South part of India fell by INR 200-400/MT against last day trades. Persistent weak demand have resulted fall in prices, according to the sponge manufacturers.

Today, offers for FeM 78-80 C-DRI in South region are assessed at INR 14,500-15,500/MT (USD 217-233) ex-works, which was traded in the range of INR 14,800-15,900/MT (USD 221-238) on 08 Feb’17.

A renowned sponge manufacturer located in Bellary (South India) stated, “We haven’t sold sponge iron from last 3-4 days and if the similar situation prevails for long term, we are likely to hold our production.”

Analyzing the price movement in other parts of India like Central & East regions it almost remained firm with marginal price change of INR 50-100/MT on Day on day (D-o-D) basis. Current offers for FeM 78-80 C-DRI in Central India are assessed at INR 15,000-15,500/MT & in East part it traded at INR 14,000-14,200/MT ex-works.

In East India, Rourkela based traders mentioned that there are no quantity purchaser for sponge at present. Thus, sellers are waiting for counter offer to sale material. Offers for FeM 79-80 C-DRI mix material are at INR 14,100-14,300/MT ex-works .

Similarly, in Central region, Raipur where P-DRI makers reported that buyers are expecting material at lesser than the offered price. Thus, sales are not good at offer prices. The offers for DR-CLO grade sponge are evaluated at INR 16,000-16,200/MT (mix-material, 0-20 mm) ex-plant.

Premium between C-DRI and P-DRI in Central & East India has increased by INR 150/MT to INR 1,250/MT & INR 600/MT W-o-W, respectively. Although, in the South regions it narrow down by INR 200-300/MT to INR 300-400/MT.

Domestic sponge offers as on 09 Feb’17

Prices in INR/MT
Source: SteelMint Research