India: NMDC cuts iron ore prices for Jun’25 amid declining steel prices

• OMC’s iron ore fines auction fetches lower bids, limited participation
• NMDC’s iron ore production rises over 10% m-o-m in May’25

India’s largest merchant iron ore mining company, NMDC, has decreased list prices of iron ore CLO (calibrated lump ore) and fines, BigMint learnt from sources.

The miner has fixed prices of DR CLO (10-40 mm, Fe 67%) at INR 7,050/t ($82/t) and of iron ore fines (-10 mm, Fe 64%) at INR 5,350/t ($62/t), a decrease of INR 150-160/t ($2/t). Prices are on FOR basis from its Bacheli complex and include royalty, DMF and NMET.

Factors behind price cut:

• India’s steel index falls to over 2-month low: BigMint’s India Steel Composite Index edged down by 0.9% w-o-w, its sharpest weekly decline last month. While the flat steel index fell by 0.5% w-o-w, the longs composite index declined more steeply by 1.3% w-o-w. In May, the flagship index – a barometer of the domestic steel market – fell by 2.7%, which indicates that the 12% provisional safeguard duty on imports of flat steel, which came into force in mid-April, failed to have a sustained positive impact on the market amid global uncertainty and deterioration in steel prices.
• Domestic pellet index drops over INR 500/t m-o-m: BigMint’s monthly average domestic pellet index, PELLEX, sharply decreased by INR 550/t ($6/t) m-o-m in May to INR 9,600/t ($112/t) DAP Raipur. Reduction in offers by local producers amid competitive offers from Odisha and sharp decline in sponge iron prices kept the Raipur pellet market under pressure.
• Weak response in OMC’s iron ore fines auction: OMC sold around 0.508 mnt (38%) of fines in May, with bids (weighted average) falling by INR 100/t ($1/t) m-o-m. Continuous drop in pellet prices resulted in limited participation and drop in bids.
• NMDC’s CG iron ore auction fetches flat bids: NMDC auctioned 193,200 t of iron ore from its Bacheli mines in Chhattisgarh on 29 May. Of 189,200 t Baila fines (Fe 64%), around 51,000 t were sold at base price of INR 5,550/t ($65/t). The entire 4,000 t of lumps (10-20 mm, Fe 65.5%) was booked at base price of INR 6,640/t ($78/t). Prices were on FOR basis, inclusive of royalty, DMF, and NMET.
• NMDC’s iron ore production rose by 11% m-o-m in May: NMDC’s monthly iron ore output was recorded at 4.43 mnt in May, up by 11% m-o-m from 4 mnt in April. Iron ore sales surged by 20% m-o-m to 4.34 mnt in May against 3.63 mnt in April.