Iron Ore Sourcing of Major Sponge Plants Up by 15% in Oct’16

India’s 12 major sponge iron plants raised iron ore sourcing by 15% M-o-M from 3.06 MnT in Sept’16 to 3.53 MnT in Oct’16.

India’s sponge iron capacity is 47 MnT in FY16 out of which top sponge makers contribute the major part in India’s sponge iron production. SteelMint has tried to analyze iron ore sourcing pattern of India’s major sponge producers whose combined share is about 35% of India’s total sponge production capacity.

Essar Steel’s iron ore sourcing fell by 13% M-o-M to 0.96 MnT in Oct’16. The steelmaker relied completely on domestic iron ore sources last month and no import vessel was noticed.

JSPL’s iron ore sourcing increased by 47% M-o-M in Oct’16. Company’s pellet exports fell from 0.23 MnT in Sept’16 to 0.19 MnT in Oct’16.

West Bengal based Rashmi Metaliks kept its iron ore sourcing fell marginally from 0.44 MnT in Sept’16 to 0.42 MnT in Oct’16. Its pellet exports fell from 0.18 MnT in Sept’16 to 0.1 MnT in Oct’16.

Iron ore sourcing of other major sponge makers in Oct’16 was follows: BMM Ispat – 0.1 MnT (up by 11% M-o-M), Shyam group – 0.17 MnT (down by 32% M-o-M) and Usha Martin – 0.1 MnT (up by 56% M-o-M).

Iron ore sourcing of major sponge plants – Oct’16 vs Sept’16

*It does not include procurement from their respective captive mines
Qty in MnT
Provisional Data
Source: SteelMint Research

Sponge iron price trend in Oct’16 – Towards the beginning of Oct’16 domestic sponge iron prices had increased sharply amid high raw material prices. While towards the end of the month prices declined amid limited trading activities over prevailing holidays. However on monthly average basis, C-DRI prices have moved up by 4-5% M-o-M in Oct’16