SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index up marginally, trades subdued

SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) moved up marginally w-o-w at INR 3,550/t ex-mines. Most of the miners are keeping offers firm post OMC auction.

Odisha Mining Corporation’s (OMC) iron ore fines auction was held for 1.62 mnt and only 6,35,000 t (39%) received bids. The miner decreased the base price for fines marginally by up to INR 150/t for auction and bid prices remained largely close to the set base price except for the Jilling lot.

Not many deals were heard due to production cuts at pellet plants and drop in sponge iron prices this week. SteelMint’s bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 8,800/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 22 July 2022, down INR 100/t compared to the last assessment on 19 July. SteelMint’s daily sponge iron, CDRI, index was assessed at INR 34,900/tonne (t) exw-Rourkela on 23 July, 2022, falling by INR 650/t w-o-w.

Rationale:

• T1- No confirmed deal for high grade ore (Fe 62%) was heard this week. Therefore, nil weightage was given in this index.
• T2- SteelMint received Eight (08) offers and indicative prices under T2 trade deals in this publishing window out of which five (05) were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check SteelMint’s iron ore assessment, pricing methodology and specification documents Click here.

Odisha iron ore prices:

Highlights from other states:

• NMDC announces auctions for over 290,000 t of iron ore from Chhattisgarh: NMDC has scheduled two iron ore auctions from Chhattisgarh. The first is for 159,600 t of both fines and lumps (Fe64-67%, indicative) from the Bacheli mines, while the second is for 134,400 t of fines and lumps (Fe64-65.50%, indicative) from the Kirandul mines. Both are scheduled for 26 Jul’22. The floor prices are yet to be declared for the material to be delivered on ex-mines basis.
• 24,000 t of iron ore booked at Sri Kumaraswamy Mineral Exports’ auction: Sri Kumaraswamy Mineral Exports Private Limited (SKMEPL) had scheduled an auction on 20 Jul’22 for sale of 122,370 t of iron ore from its Ramanadurga mines in Karnataka’s Bellary district. According to market sources, the entire quantity of 12,000 t of lumps was booked at around INR 3,700-3,800/t while only 12,000 t of fines (Fe50.0-66.5%) were booked out of 110,370 t at around INR 1,300-4,500/t (excluding royalty, DMF and NMET).
• Maharashtra-based miner keep the offer firm: A Maharashtra-based iron ore miner has increased lump offers for lumps (5-18mm, Fe 63%) were recorded at INR 8,000/t FOR Raipur same as last week. Also, iron ore Fines Fe 63% stand at INR 4,500/t FOR Raipur.