India: Sponge iron prices drop further on weak buying interest - 23 Oct

Sponge iron prices decreased today in the range of INR 100-200/t across regions due to weak demand and prevailing bearish market sentiments.

Despite lower offers in the spot market, limited buying activity was observed d-o-d as sentiments in the finished steel segment has remained less supportive over the past several days.

South African RB2 coal prices remained stable today. Non-coking (5500 NAR) coal exw-Gangavaram prices are at INR 9,500/t ($113/t).

PDRI prices stood at INR 25,000-27,100/t at close of trading today, while CDRI prices were assessed at INR 27,250-32,800/t.

Deals of around 8,300 t of sponge iron were recorded, down significantly from 15,000 t on 22 October.

Rationale -

Prices have been derived based on transactions, offers, bids and indicative price data sets. Transactions are considered as T1 and given a weightage of 50% whereas other data sets are considered as T2 and given a weightage of the balance 50%.

Click for detailed methodology

T1 - Trade, T2 - Offer/Bid/Indicative