SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index has moved down by around INR 400/t to INR 8,100/t (ex-mines, including royalty, DMF and NMET). Although the merchant miners haven’t revised their offers yet, market participants are expecting a sharp drop in offers in the coming days owing to declining global iron ore and domestic pellet prices.
The market is so volatile that buyers are reluctant to conduct transactions at a time when prices are heading south. Buyers are mostly on wait and watch mode. No confirmed trade was reported for iron ore fines this week as the market seems to have grown acutely conscious of buying. A few buyers are also waiting for OMC’s iron ore auction scheduled next week to gain a better understanding of the market.
Recent trade and rationale:
- No deals were heard this week for fines and, therefore, not considered under T1 trade, accorded 0% weightage in the index calculation for Fe 62% fines.
- SteelMint received eleven (11) offers, indicative prices under T2 trade in this publishing window and nine (09) were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check out SteelMint’s iron ore assessments, pricing methodology and specification documents Click here
SteelMint’s iron ore lump (5-18mm, Fe 63%) index stands at INR 12,300-12,500/t (ex-mines, inclusive of royalty, DMF and NMET), lower by INR 200/t on week. However, two deals were recorded for lump ore this week by an Odisha-based trader for around 6,000 t. Supply availability persists for lumps, SteelMint notes.
OMC to auction 0.8 mn t iron ore fines, lowers base price: State-owned miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has scheduled an iron ore fines auction for 23 Aug’21. The miner has put a total of 866,000 t of iron ore fines to auction. The base price for high-grade fines has come down by up to INR 700/t, while that for low-grade has come down by INR 1,350/t against OMC’s Jul’21 auction.
Odisha iron ore prices:
NMDC to auction 147,000 t of iron ore from Chhattisgarh – State-run iron ore miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) will conduct an auction for 147,000 t of iron ore on 26 Aug’21 from its Bacheli and Kirandul mines in Chhattisgarh.
SAIL iron ore auction from Chhattisgarh fails to evoke response – SAIL conducted an auction for 84,000 t of iron ore fines (Fe 60.13%, Fe 52.52, and Fe 64.56% indicative) from its Dalli/Rajhara mines in Chhattisgarh. The due date for submission of bids was 18 Aug’21. The base price for Fe 60% fines was set at INR 6,000/t and that for Fe 52.5% at INR 2,200/t. According to latest updates, the auction failed to fetch any response, possibly due to low-grade iron ore being offered, SteelMint notes.
Goa mines directorate resumes iron ore auction after 5 months gap: The Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG), Goa, is all set to conduct its 26th e-auction for 2.037 million tonnes (mn t) of iron ore on 27 Aug’21. The auction is being conducted after a break of almost five months. Most of the quantity put under auction is of low grade with the highest grade (as per DMG analysis) being Fe 58.01%. Among the total offered quantity, 1.63 mn t is ROM, 0.31 mn t are fines and 0.09 mn t are lumps.
NMDC’s Kumaraswamy iron ore auction receives tepid response – NMDC had conducted an e-auction from its Kumaraswamy mines on 17 Aug’21 at which 163,000 t of iron ore was booked out of the total quantity of 308,000 t put under the hammer. JSW Steel Ltd. remained the largest buyer at 96,000 t of iron ore fines followed by SLR Metaliks Ltd that booked around 12,000 t. An iron ore lump (Fe 64.13%) lot was booked at INR 6,499/t (basic, taxes extra), with the price moving down by INR 496/t as against the previous auction on 5 Aug’21 where similar grade material had been sold at INR 6,995/t.
In another auction held on 17th Aug’21 by private miners, West Bengal-based Electrosteel Castings Limited booked 4,000 t (Fe 63.78%) lumps at INR 7,300/t. All prices mentioned are basic.
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