India: Sponge iron prices drop on soft steel demand - 11 Mar

• Sponge iron prices fall by INR 50-500/t today
  
  
• Decline in billet prices by INR 100-300/t today
  
  
• Trade volumes edge up d-o-d
  
  

Sponge iron prices in all key domestic markets dropped in the range of INR 50-500/tonne (t) on 11 March, 2024 due to soft steel demand.

PDRI market prices closed at a range of INR 25,100-27,300/t and CDRI prices, at INR 26,650-31,000/t.

South African RB2 prices remained stable today. Non coking RB2 (5500 NAR) exw Gangavaram stand at INR 9,300/t ($112/t).

Limited spot transactions were seen in general which led to a decline in both offers and bids. However, spot trade volumes were up by 32% on a d-o-d basis.

About 13,780 tonnes (t) of sponge iron transactions were recorded in the country on Monday compared to 9,360 t on 9 March.

A decline in billet prices by INR 100-300/t was also one of the reasons behind the drop in sponge iron prices. Market participants are cautious about the price movements and anticipating a further price correction this week.

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