Iron ore Supply from NMDC-Bailadila Mines Drops by 15% in Feb’16

1. JSW Steel iron ore purchases continuous to remain nill
2. Vizag Steel reduces iron ore purchases by 6%
3. NMDC iron ore movement to Vizag Port for exports decreases by 46.5%
4. NMDC’s iron ore purchases from Chhattisgarh based sponge manufacturers remains same

As per the railway movement tracked by SteelMint, NMDC’s iron ore dispatches from Chhattisgarh mines have witnessed a significant decrease of 15.5% in Feb’16 as compared to Jan’16. The miner dispatched around 924,000 MT iron ore via 240 rakes in Feb’16 as compared to 1,093,400 MT in Jan’16.

JSW Steel, one of the largest buyer of NMDC’s bailadila ore, had purchased not even a single rake from NMDC. Its been consecutive three months (Dec’15-Feb’16), the steelmaker had not purchased ore from NMDC’s C.G. mines. The steelmaker have shifted their interest towards imported ore and from Odisha.

It has been seen that after a long gap, the steelmaker resumed iron ore purchases from Odisha in Feb’16. The steelmaker had stopped purchases from Odisha as imported ore was cost effective due to declined global iron ore prices (till Jan’16. But, as of now,due sudden hike in global iron prices(around USD 10/MT M-o-M), steelmaker’s buying interest turned again towards Odisha.

Vizag Steel, another major buyer of NMDC’s ore, had also decrease iron ore purchases by 6% M-o-M. The steelmaker procured 411,950 MT in Feb’16 against 438,900 MT in Jan’16.

NMDC’s iron ore movement to Vizag Port for exports also dropped down by 46.5% M-o-M. NMDC moved 46 rakes i.e. 177,100 MT iron ore in Feb’16 against 331,100 MT via 86 rakes in Jan’16.

Iron ore purchases from C.G. based sponge manufacturers remained almost same at 281,050 MT via 73 rakes in Feb’16 as well as Jan’16 as there was subdued demand for sponge iron in the market.

Link to NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines iron ore supplies in Feb’16