India: Vedanta’s iron ore production rises over 40% y-o-y in Q1FY’26

• Iron ore sales down 40% q-o-q in Q1FY’26
• Company’s pig iron production rises 4% y-o-y in Q1

Vedanta Ltd. has announced its operational performance for the first quarter of the financial year 2025-2026 (Q1FY’26). Key highlights are as follows:

Iron ore output up 42% y-o-y 

Iron ore production was recorded at 1.8 million tonnes (mnt) in the first quarter of FY’26, marking a 42% rise compared to 1.3 mnt in Q1FY’25. The Karnataka mines contributed the bulk of the output, accounting for 1.6 mnt with a 89% share of total production (up by 36% y-o-y).

However, production slipped by 13% q-o-q in Q1 compared to 2.1 mnt in the previous quarter. The quarterly decline in production was primarily due to the suspension of iron ore mining operations in Karnataka ordered by the government in late April, coupled with a gradual ramp-up of production at the Goa mines, which temporarily slowed overall output.

Iron ore sales show firmness y-o-y:

Sales volumes in Q1FY’26 stood stable at 1 mnt, unchanged from the year-ago period. Around 70% (0.7 mnt) of the sold quantity was from Karnataka. On a q-o-q basis, sales dipped 40% in Q1FY’26 against 1.6 mnt in Q4FY’25.

Sales volumes in Karnataka dropped by 32% y-o-y against 1 mnt in Q1FY’25.

The decline was partially offset by the resumption of sales from Goa, which contributed 0.3 mnt during the quarter.

Pig iron production rises 4% y-o-y

The company’s pig iron production increased to 213,000 t in Q1FY’26, up by 4% y-o-y compared to 205,000 t in the same period in FY’25.

Q-o-Q, production again edged up by 4%, from 205,000 t in previous quarter to 213,000 t in the FY’26 quarter one due to enhanced operational efficiency.