Goa Iron Ore E-auctions in FY16 – A Snapshot

3.3 MnT iron ore has been allotted via Goa e-auctions in FY16. Major highlights of FY16 Goa e-auctions are as follows:

1. 11.97 MnT iron ore was offered out of which only 3.3 MnT iron ore has been allotted. Iron ore sales via Goa e-auction remain stable Y-o-Y. In FY15, 3.29 MnT iron ore was sold via Goa e-auctions

2. This fiscal has witnessed 9 Goa iron ore e-auctions unlike 3 e-auctions in FY15
3. Major buyer remains Vedanta with purchase of 2.14 MnT followed by VM Salgaonkar & Brothers at 0.41 MnT
4. JSW Steel resumed purchases from Goa e-auctions after a span of over 1 year. It participated in 14th Goa iron ore e-auction conducted on 24 Dec’15 and purchased 50,000 MT fines (Fe 64%) located at Vedanta’s Codli mines
5. In order to boost low grade iron ore exports, Indian govt. reduced export duty on low grade fines (below Fe 58%) from 30% to 10% in w.e.f Jun’15. Later in Feb’16 in the recently presented budget, Indian govt. scrapped completely the export duty both on low grade lump & fines to nil
6. Low grade iron ore export from Goa surged almost six times and stood at 3.8 MnT in FY16 against 0.6 MnT in FY15. Vedanta remained the largest exporter at 2.3 MnT followed by Fomento Resources (0.7 MnT) and Royalline Resources (0.5 MnT)

Major bidders in e-auction and their material type wise iron ore procurement-

Qty in MT
Source: Goa DMG, Steelmint Research

Since the time when Directorate of Mines & Geology (DMG), Govt. of Goa began e-auctions in the state in Feb’14, it has managed to sell only 8.23 MnT iron ore via 14 e-auctions conducted till end of Dec’15. Goan govt. has notified that it is likely to auction entire quantity of unsold lots of about 7.8 MnT iron ore via 15th e-auction however it is yet to notify the date for the same. As per market sources, the auction is likely to be conducted shortly.