Indian steel major – JSW Steel has sourced 1.43 mn t iron ore from the merchant market in Feb’21. The sourcing stood largely stable as against 1.44 mn t in Jan’21. The steelmaker has increased captive iron ore sourcing hence reduced sourcing from merchant miners. The figures exclude captive iron ore sourcing.
Sourcing from Odisha up by 19% in Feb’21
The steelmaker procured 27,777 t of iron ore from Odisha based miners in Feb’21, up by 19% as compared to 23,392 t in Jan’21.
Sourcing from NMDC (Chhattisgarh) up by 17% in Feb’21
JSW Steel’s (Dolvi) sourcing from NMDC increased by 17% to 284,990 t as compared with 242,550 t in Jan’21.NMDC has slashed prices for Feb’21. The prices of Baila lump and fines decreased by INR 600/t ($8) and that of DR-CLO by INR 700/t ($10).
JSW’s iron ore purchases from Karnataka e-auction fell marginally m-o-m
In the month of Feb’21, the company sourced around 1.11 mn t iron ore from Karnataka e-auction, down by 5% against 1.18 mn t in Jan’21.
Out of 1.11 mn t iron ore sourced by JSW in Feb’21, Vedanta supplied 0.38 mn t, higher against 0.32 mn t in Jan’21. It contributed around 34% of total JSW sourcing. NMDC stood the second largest supplier at 0.29 mn t. JSW iron ore sourcing from other private mines stood at 0.44 mn t.
JSW iron ore imports recorded nil in Feb’21
JSW Steel imports stood nil for the month of Feb’21. JSW Steel imported 79,540 t of iron ore from Finland in Nov ’20. Considering sharp hike in global iron ore prices, iron ore imports seem less viable now.Global prices continued to increase throughout the month of Feb’21. The spot iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index stood at $158/t, CNF China towards early Feb’21 and increased to $174/t, CNF China towards Feb’21 end.
JSW Steel Iron Ore Sourcing in Feb’21 & Jan’21
Source: SteelMint Research
Quantity in t
Excludes captive iron ore sourcing
Provisional Data
JSW’s steel capacity utilization dropped down
JSW Steel’s crude steel production for Feb ’21 was at 1.306 mn t, down by 9% as compared to 1.432 mn t a month ago. Also, on an annual basis, it decreased by 1% against 1.302 mn t in Feb ’20.It’s capacity utilization slid down to 93% in Feb ’21 as compared to 96% in Jan ’21. SteelMint learned from the company’s recent press release.
JSW has emerged as India’s third largest iron ore producer in Jan’21 recording monthly production at 3 mn t, as against 3.15 mn t produced in Dec’20, as per SteelMint data.
Outlook:JSW expects to produce around 7-8 mn t of iron ore from nine captive mines in Karnataka in FY’21, which will be used at its Vijayanagar plant. Adding up output from recently won mines in Odisha, the company plans to have captive iron ore production around 21 mn t in FY21.
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