India: Bids increase in OMC’s iron ore fines e-auction

Odisha’s state-owned miner- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled iron ore e-auction today (07th Jan’21) for 851,100 t iron ore fines.

The auction received an overwhelming response with the entire quantity getting booked and bids increasing by up to INR 1,300/t over the set base price. The material put under the hammer was from Gandhamardan, Daitari, Koira mines and Tiring pahar mines.

The miner had increased the base prices for the auction by up to INR 1,800/t as compared to the base price of the last fines e-auction held on 3rd Nov’20. However, the base price was slightly lower than the bids fetched in the last auction.

OMC iron ore fines e-auction summary:

Base prices in INR/t on ex-mines basis; including royalty
Source: SteelMint Research

Market highlights:

• Odisha govt has allocated Guali and Jilling iron ore mines to OMC with an objective to increase iron ore production. These mines have a combined production limit of 12 mnt pa.
• SteelMint’s index for Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index last week stood at INR 6,150/t (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF & NMET). Prices have remained largely stable on a monthly basis as compared to INR 6,250/t (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF & NMET) assessed last month.
• OMC recorded output of 1.15 mn t for the month of Nov’20 as compared to 0.88 mn t in Oct’20. This is attributed to resumption in production from its Gandhamardan B block and commencement of operations at Tiring Pahar mines.
• OMC has recorded steady growth in iron ore production over the past years from 6 mn t in FY’16 to 12.4 mn t in FY’20.