India: Sponge iron prices rise further, trades remain moderate - 1 May

• Varying sentiments in the semi-finished segment
  
  
• Buying slows down on higher offers
  
  

Sponge iron prices in India continued to increase due to varying sentiments in the semi-finished segment, prices rose by INR 150-600/t today in major regions. However, spot trade volumes were moderate as buyers were resisting to book material at such high offers.

PDRI market prices closed at a range of INR 28,000-29,500/t and CDRI prices, at INR 29,150-35,000/t.

South African RB2 prices remained stable today. Non-coking RB2 (5500 NAR) prices exw Gangavaram stood at INR 9,900/t ($118/t).

Buying activity was slow today compared to yesterday's trading session as participants had already placed enough orders yesterday.

About 16,400 tonnes (t) of sponge iron transactions were recorded in the country on Wednesday compared to 30,875 t on 30 April.

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