India: Sponge iron prices drop on weak spot demand - 19 Apr

• Sponge iron prices fall by INR 100-350/t d-o-d
  
  
• Limited spot transactions reported today
  
  

Indian sponge iron prices dropped today by INR 100-350/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.

PDRI prices closed at a range of INR 28,000-29,800/t while CDRI prices were assessed at INR 29,000-35,000/t.

South African RB2 coal prices remained stable today. Non-coking RB2 (5500 NAR) coal prices exw Gangavaram stood at INR 9,850/t ($118/t).

Owing to weak market sentiments, very limited trading activity was reported today.

Only 2,550 tonnes (t) of sponge iron transactions were recorded in the country on Friday compared to 12,600 t on 18 April.

Spot buying uncertainties and fluctuating steel prices led to a reduction in sponge iron prices; however, market participants are hopeful of price stability in the near term.

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