Mr Anurag Kejriwal is the Country Director of Sinomaterial International Company Ltd . Earlier he was the Business Head of Shri Bajrang Power & Ispat Ltd. He has widespread experience in trading of steel and the raw materials related to steel value chain.
IM: Kindly introduce your group Sinomaterial International Company Ltd to our viewers.
AK: Sinomaterial International Co. Ltd.is a trading company primarily into Steel and steel making raw materials with an annual turnover of US$200mil. Our main products are long product, plate and pipe, including wire rod, rebar, section steel, HRC, CRC, GI, PPGI, seamless pipe and welded pipe. Our HQ is in Shanghai.
IM: Today the entire steel value chain is centred around China. For how long do you think this dream run of China market will continue?
AK: This has been the case since 2004 and we expect the present bull run will continue to remain so for another few years.
IM: What price range do you foresee for iron ore in the international market at the end of this year?
AK: We expect Iron Ore prices would stabilize at around $150/t in international market by the end of this year.
IM: India’s share in China’s iron ore import is mere 7-8%. What steps do you feel need to be taken to boost Indian iron ore fines export to China?
AK: Govt of India needs to appreciate the fact that export of iron ore fetches valuable foreign currency. Hence it needs to remove the bottlenecks in this regard.
IM: Apart from South Africa, which is considering export tax on chrome ore, which other country (ies) do you feel offer good opportunities for quality chrome ore supply? ?
AK: Apart from South Africa, we are sourcing chrome ore from Turkey and Middle East. These places appear to be important chrome ore source.
IM: How has the Sino-Australian political stalemate affected the steel value chain in China? For example we know Australian coke prices came down substantially because of this reason.
AK: Primarily prices of major raw material mainly coal have increased substantially affecting Chinese steel prices and also steel produced in other countries. Sudden influx of Chinese buyers (after exiting Australia) in other steel raw material producing countries to source their requirement has resulted in a 3 times jump in commodity prices in last one year. Eg South African Coal prices and also Indonesian.
IM: Ferro alloy prices have substantially increased in the past few months, sometimes to the extent of 60-70%. What are the possible reasons for this sudden jump? When do we expect the prices to stabilize? .
AK: The sharp increase in raw material price like chrome has resulted in price rise of ferro alloys. Recovering demand from steelmakers globally, together with restricted alloy supplies, and low inventories have also propelled the price increase.
IM: Thank you for talking to Indian Minerals.
AK: Welcome.
