Karnataka recorded a 52% m-o-m decline in its iron ore e-auction sales volumes in Nov’21. The total allotted iron ore quantity in Nov was 1.57 million tonnes (mn t) as against 3.24 mn t in October.
Preference for pellets seems to have lowered iron ore lumps procurement by mills in November. Notably, SteelMint recorded pellet trade volumes of around 90,000 t in Nov’21 as against around 45,000t in Oct’21. In addition, fewer number of auctions conducted amid festive holidays kept procurement on the lower side.
JSW’s iron ore sourcing from Karnataka auction drops 66%: Purchases by JSW Steel, the largest buyer at Karnataka’s iron ore auctions, witnessed a sharp drop of 66% in November. JSW purchased around 0.6 mn t of iron ore from the Karnataka e-auctions last month against 1.75 mn t in October.
Out of 0.6 mn t sourced, NMDC supplied 0.12 mn t (a marked decline compared to 0.72 mn t in October), accounting for around 20% of JSW Steel’s total sourcing.
Vedanta remained the second-largest iron ore supplier to JSW Steel at 0.12 mn t against 0.59 mn t in October.
Buyer-wise allotted quantities in Nov’21 iron ore e-auctions
Qty in tonnes (t)
Source: Karnataka state govt, DMG, SteelMint Research
All prices mentioned are basic, taxes extra
Sales from NMDC down m-o-m: NMDC sold 0.22 mn t of iron ore via the Karnataka e-auctions in November against 1.23 mn t in the previous month, (including production from the Donimalai mines). NMDC’s Donimalai mines sold around 0.03 mn t in November. Iron ore sales from the state’s other leading miner, Vedanta, was recorded at 0.28 mn t in November against 0.60 mn t in October.
Highlights of Nov Karnataka iron ore e-auctions
- Vedanta procured 68,000 t of iron ore, of which 40,000 t were fines (Fe 57.5%-62.11%) and 28,000 t were lump ore (Fe 63.11%-65%).
- Eastern India-based Electrosteel Casting Limited booked 8,000 t of iron ore lumps (Fe 63.11%-Fe 63.8%) at the Karnataka auctions at INR 5,810-5,686/t.
- Western India-based Electrotherm booked 4,000 t of iron ore lumps (Fe 65%) at INR 5,700/t from Vyasankere Iron Ore Mines.
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