SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index stable, market awaits OMC’s auction

SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index remained stable at INR 5,700/t ex-mines. Most miners held back offers due to dispatch-related issues while some of them have nearly exhausted their EC limits for this fiscal. Market was also poor post-festival vacations. Also, most of the market participants are going to wait for OMC’s iron ore auction which is likely to be conducted on 16 March, 2023.

Exhausted EC limits

Most of the iron ore miners from Odisha have completed their EC limits in this financial year. Owing to this availibility of iron ore getting affected in Odisha. Therefore, some merchant miners are operating in the market. However, OMC’s auction is also round the corner for this month.

Rationale:

• T1- No deal was reported in fines (Fe 62%) and, therefore, not taken into consideration for the index calculation. Given 0% weightage.
• T2- SteelMint has included seven (7) offers and indicative prices under T2 trade deals in this publishing window. All were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check SteelMint’s iron ore assessment, pricing methodology, and specification documents Click here.

SteelMint’s bi-weekly domestic pellets (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, remained stable at INR 10,000/tonne (t) DAP Raipur compared to the last assessment on 7 March, 2023. No deal was reported in this publishing window as market participants are yet to come back from the Holi festival.

India iron ore prices:

Highlights from other states:

• NMDC Chhattisgarh yet to revise iron ore prices – India’s leading merchant miner, NMDC is yet to take a call on prices, sources expect an announcement next week.
• Chandrapur miner lowers iron ore offers – A Chandrapur, Maharashtra-based iron ore miner has lowered lumps offer (5-18mm, Fe 63%) at INR 8,700-8,800/t FOR Raipur. The miner has resumed fines (Fe 63%) offer at INR 6,500-6,600/t FoR Raipur.
• Total quantity booked at NMDC’s Karnataka auction: NMDC conducted around 1.3 mnt of iron ore auction from Karnataka’s Donimalai and Kumaraswamy mines on 7 March, 2023. According to sources, 228,000 t of lumps (10-40mm, Fe61%) and 372,000 t of fines (Fe59%) were booked at INR 3,301/t and INR 2,872/t respectively from Donimalai. 310,000 t of lumps (10-40mm, Fe59.5-65.73%) and 388,000 t of fines (Fe58.22-64.74%) were sold at INR 2,892-3,752/t and INR 2,566-3,321/t respectively from Kumaraswamy. Prices exclude royalty, DMF, and NMET.