Iron ore concentrate prices in India continued to inch up amidst limited offers from key players. SteelMint’s assessment for Fe 63% concentrate price stands at INR 6,450/tonne (t) exw, up by INR 200/t w-o-w.
SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) rose further by INR 300/tonne (t) w-o-w to INR 6,800/t ex-mines last week. The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled an auction of iron ore fines on 15 Mar’22, which received bids for 99% of the offered quantity. The miner has raised the base price for fines by up to INR 450/t against the last auction. Bid prices were up to 18% higher than the base price.
However, pellet prices dropped this week on fall in bids after the decline in sponge prices and lower Chinese buying interest. SteelMint’s bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) prices stood at INR 14,000/t DAP Raipur on 15 Mar’22, down by INR 200/t against the last assessment on 11 Mar’22.
Outlook
In the view of increasing demand for iron ore concentrates in the last few years, several plants, including Pacific Iron, Geomin and Jakhodia Minerals, are planning capacity expansion. Some greenfield projects are also in the pipeline.
On the price front, market sources are of the opinion that there are less chances of any sharp hike in concentrate prices in the near term considering the recent trends in iron ore and pellet prices.
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