India: Sponge iron prices fall on low trade volumes - 19 Jul

Sponge iron prices in India fell by INR 50-300/tonne (t) on 19 July, 2023 on account of limited trade. Buyers were engaged only in need-based procurement to fulfil their immediate requirements. However, only in Jharsuguda, sponge iron prices witnessed a marginal increase of INR 100/t.

Spot buying interest was weak today, which eventually led to a decrease in prices in most regions. Uncertain price movement was another key factor that contributed to low trade volumes.

About 12,810 t of sponge iron transactions were recorded on Wednesday in the country as against 18,770 t on 18 July.

Sources informed SteelMint that market participants are closely watching the movement of prices as they are waiting for prices to stabilise. Notably, demand for sponge iron is largely driven by demand for steel and a slowdown in demand for steel is impacting sponge demand.

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