India: Sponge iron prices drop further on weakening spot demand - 20 Dec

Indian sponge iron prices edged down further today by INR 100-400/t in major locations. Sponge iron prices fell due to the downtrend in the semi-finished and finished long steel segments which led to weak demand throughout the day.

However, CDRI prices only in Raigarh showed a slight rise by INR 50/t.

PDRI market prices closed at a range of INR 25,800-29,000/t and CDRI prices, at INR 28,100-32,500/t.

As a result, buyers came forward for only need-based bookings. Owing to weak market sentiments, limited trading activity were reported d-o-d.

About 5,000 tonnes (t) of sponge iron transactions were recorded in the country on Wednesday compared to 17,200 t on 19 December.

Spot buying uncertainty, combined with fluctuating steel prices, contributed to a reduction in sponge iron prices, leaving market participants hopeful for price stability.

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