Eastern India based furnaces turn to ‘low-cost substitutes’ to reduce input cost

An eastern India, Jharkhand based renowned billet plant has confirmed booking of pooled iron instead of pig iron to cut the input cost. The deal for pooled iron, (FeM 92%) has been reported at around INR 29,300-500/t, while offers for pig iron (FeM 94%) are reported at INR 30,500-31,000/t on FoR basis. On an average, the input cost would lower by up to INR 1,000/t ($14) on melting pooled iron, the officials from the company stated. The current conversion spread from sponge P-DRI to billet is hovering at INR 11,500/t in Jharkhand, which is less viable, as per manufacturers.