SteelMint: PELLEX stable amidst limited trade

SteelMint’s bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stands at INR 12,650/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 22 Feb’22, stable against the last assessment on 18 Feb’22. No pellet deal has been reported in this publishing window.

Rationale:

• PELLEX has been derived using data points: i.e. trades, offers and bids. You can download the detailed methodology by clicking on this link Click here.
• No deal was reported and hence, not taken into consideration in this publishing window, and accorded 0% weightage.
• Seven (07) firm offers, bids and indicative prices were reported. Five (05) were taken for price calculation and given 100% weightage.
• SteelMint did not receive any bid, hence, given no weightage in the index calculation.

Pellet-makers in Raipur kept offers stable at INR 12,500-12,600/t exw. One of the major pellet makers from this region resumed production and is offerring pellets in the market from this week.

A Jharsuguda, Odisha-based pellet maker is offering at around INR 11,800-11,900/exw. However, no deal has been concluded so far this week.

A market source reported to SteelMint that a few players were reselling pellets in the market at offers of INR 12,000/t exw but that also failed in enticing the buying interest. In the convesation, he further revealed that most of the sponge makers have sufficient stock for the next few days. Therefore, they are not in a hurry to buy pellets.

Lack of buying interest widened the bid-offer disparity which shifted buyers’ feeding pattern towards NMDC DR-CLO. Some others are also using the previous stock. High raw material offers and increased sponge prices w-o-w kept pellet prices supported.

Coal is still being traded at higher prices. In a confirmed deal, 2,000 t of South African RB2 (5500 NAR) coal was sold at INR 16,000/t at Vizag Port, while no major deals were reported at Gangavaram due to lack of available stocks.

Pellet-based DRI (P-DRI, FeM 80%) prices in Raipur increased INR 1,100/t w-o-w to INR 34,900/t exw compared to last week’s offers. However, on a daily basis, prices have remained stable today.

Indian pellet market overview: Domestic pellet prices have almost remained stable across the region.

Iron ore pellet (Fe 63%) prices in Bellary remained stable at INR 10,100/t exw today against  the 18 February, as per SteelMint’s assessment.

Region-wise pellet offers and deals: