Sponge iron (DRI) export from India to Bangladesh, a neighboring country, has increased Y-o-Y.
Subdued demand in the Indian domestic market has given a signal to domestic steel makers to look into export into the neighboring countries amid competitive prices.
It is expected that Bangladesh steel industry’s production capacity will threefold in FY16-17 to above 3 MnT. Sponge iron buying has already increased from Indian territory. Bangladesh source DRI through Sea route from south India and via road route from Durgapur region based in east India.
Bangladesh remains the largest importer this fiscal and imported highest quantity of 82,300 MT from India. Out of the total DRI export, about 82% of material was exported to Bangladesh from India.
As per sources in south India, there are huge sellers namely KIOCL’s sister concern Kudremukh Iron & Steel Company, Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel, BMM Ispat, Biop Steels & Power Pvt Ltd, Kamakshi Steels. Regular export offers are booked by south based manufacturers.
Indian sponge iron (DRI) export
| Year | Bangladesh | Others | Total | % Share of Bangladesh |
| FY16 (Apr-Dec) | 82,300 | 17,700 | 100,000 | 82 |
| FY15 | 98,700 | 67,470 | 166,170 | 59 |
| FY14 | 67,800 | 72,200 | 140,000 | 48 |
| FY13 | 49,700 | 36,000 | 85,700 | 58 |
Quantity in MT
Source: DGFT; SteelMint

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