India: Sponge iron market sees downward price trend amid weak buying interest

• Sponge iron prices fall amid cautious market sentiment
  
  
• Limited enquiries keep buying activity subdued
  
  

Indian sponge iron prices witnessed a down trend on 11 March. Prices fell by INR 100750/t across regions. Buying activity remained low to moderate, with limited enquiries across markets. Amid continuous price corrections, buyers largely adopted a wait-and-watch stance, leading to cautious and need-based procurement during the day, though some improvement observed in the market at late evening.

Demand in the finished and semi-finished steel segments remained steady, leading to a subdued market sentiment in the sponge iron market today. Enquiry levels were limited and buying activity remained largely cautious, reflecting subdued participation across regions.

Trade volumes increased to around 8,950 t today from nearly 4,200 t in the previous session. However, despite the rise in transactions, overall market sentiment remained subdued, with participants largely adopting a cautious stance.

On the cost front, pellet prices remained stable, with Raipur pellets assessed at around INR 11,000/t ex-works.

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%.

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