India’s coal based sponge iron production increased by 6.5 per cent to 24.4 MnT in FY17, from 22.9 MnT during FY16 , according to data maintained by SteelMint. This increased sponge production is the result of higher iron ore and steel production.
Notably, in FY17 India’s Iron ore production increased by around 22% against FY16. Iron ore production was reported at 156 MnT in FY16, which jumped to 190 MnT in FY17.
India is world’s largest sponge iron producer and has an installed capacity of 47-48 MnT, out of which 8-9 MnT is gas based and 39-40 MnT is coal based, with over 400 sponge units. Sponge contributes 25-30% of India’s total crude steel production of 96-97 MnT.
In FY17 the major production growth in sponge is registered in key producing states i.e. Chhattigarh (20.92%), Odisha (6.92%), West Bengal (51.46%) & Jharkhand (2.54%).
Whereas sponge production in southern and western region reported a fall owing to increase in bulk scarp imports during 2016-2017.
Quantity in MnT
Excluding Essar & JSW Sponge Production
Provisional Data
Source: SteelMint Research
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