Indian Sponge Iron Export Prices Drop by USD 10/MT on Falling Rupee

Recent sponge iron export deals from eastern India to Bangladesh were concluded on a reduced price of USD 10/MT, as per SteelMint's weekly price assessment. As per suppliers, drop in export prices is due to falling rupee against the US Dollar and declining sponge iron prices in the Indian domestic market.

In a week's duration, Indian sponge iron prices moved down by INR 500/MT (USD 7) & Indian Rupee value dropped by 1.3% to 74.2 against the US dollar, resulting in a consistent fall in the export price range.

-- Fresh deals of over 5,000 MT sponge C-DRI (80 FeM, 100% lumps) have been reported at near to USD 270-273/MT, which was last week traded at around USD 282-283/MT, CPT Benapole (dry port of India & Bangladesh).

-- On CFR basis, the fresh offers would be around USD 285-290/MT as against the previous week at USD 295-300/MT CFR Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Participants believe that Indian sponge iron prices to remain under pressure due to declining prices of substitute products and falling furnace production owing to poor off take in finished steel.

The domestic offers of 78-80 FeM Sponge C-DRI mix material are hovering at INR 18,700-18,900/MT (USD 252-255) ex-Durgapur, INR 17,700-17,900 (USD 238-241)/MT ex-Rourkela, eastern India, INR 19,100-19,300 (USD 257-260)/MT ex-Raipur, central India & INR 17,700-17,900 (USD 238-241)/MT ex-Bellary, southern India.