India: Four Raipur-based sponge iron plants resume production

Four sponge iron plants in Raipur, which had shut down their kilns for maintenance during Apr’21, have resumed operations recently, SteelMint learned from sources. With resumption in production at these mills, around 2,000 tpd (tonnes per day) of sponge iron is expected to come online of which 50-70% of the material will flow to the spot market. This is likely to keep sponge prices under pressure, SteelMint notes, even as furnaces report flat daily production. Over the last week sponge iron prices in Raipur have dropped by INR 1,700/t in sync with falling billet prices.