AM/NS India has resumed pellet imports in Sep’20 after a period of about 20 months. The miner had booked two vessels of pellets from Bahrain of 55,000t and 80,000 t, SteelMint learned from vessel-line up data.
The raw material availability constraints in Odisha has led the steelmaker to once again shift to imports. After the Odisha block auction of 19 mining leases, only five of them have started production and the rest are either dormant or are about to start producing. In addition to it, iron ore production from NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines has also been hit due to monsoons. NMDC’s iron ore production from Chhattisgarh mines in Aug’20 recorded at 1.01 mn t as against 1.56 mn t in July’20. Hence, the raw material tightness continues to exist.
AMNS had bagged the Thakurani iron ore block formerly held by Kaypee Enterprises at Odisha’s online auctions, quoting a premium of 107.55%. The block is endowed with 179.26 mn t of iron ore. It has an approved capacity to mine 5.5 mn t p.a. Traffic congestion, monsoon rains, the pandemic and sharing mines with the old lessees are the issues the new lessess are facing.
Company’s iron ore sourcing fell sharply in Aug’20
The company recorded iron ore sourcing for the month of Aug’20 at 0.50 mn t, down 57% as against 1.16 mn t in July 20. On a yearly basis too, sourcing dropped 44% compared to 0.9 mn t in Aug’19.
Iron ore procurement from NMDC (C.G.) down 63% for the month
Steelmaker procured 249,000 t of iron ore in Aug’20 from NMDC’s Bailadila mines (Chhattisgarh) via a slurry pipeline, against July’20 at 679,000 mn t.
Sourcing from Odisha merchant mines fell 44% in Aug’20
AM/NS sourced 244,990 t iron ore from Odisha’s merchant mines, fall of 44% m-o-m against July sourcing at 434,999 t.
Sourcing from OMC decreased by 82% to 8,161 t for the month as compared to 44,965 t in July’ 20.
Out of the total iron ore sourced from Odisha merchant mines in Aug’20, the largest share was contributed by Serajuddin mines at 105,704 t, followed by KN Ram at 40,034 t and KJS Ahluwalia at 26,919 t.
AM/NS iron ore sourcing Aug’20 v/s July’20
Qty in t
Provisional data
Source: SteelMint Research, Customs, Odisha govt.
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