Indian steel major JSW Steel sourced 2.25 million tonnes (mn t) of iron ore from the merchant market in Oct’21. The sourcing surged by 53% as against 1.47 mn t seen in Sept’21. The figures exclude captive iron ore sourcing.
Purchases from Karnataka e-auctions up 38% m-o-m
In Oct’21, JSW Steel sourced around 1.75 mn t of iron ore from the Karnataka e-auctions, up by 38% against 1.27 mn t in Sept’21.
Out of this, NMDC supplied 0.72 mn t, contributing around 41% of the total JSW sourcing in Oct’21. NMDC supply was up 60% against 0.45 mn t in Sept’21. Vedanta stood as the second largest supplier to JSW Steel at 0.59 mn t, up by 51% against the previous month.
Sourcing from NMDC Chhattisgarh records 141% increase in Oct’21
JSW Steel’s (Dolvi) sourcing from NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines rose by 141% to 454,300 t as compared to 188,650 t in Sept’21. NMDC had cut iron ore prices by INR 200-400/tonne (t) for October sales.
Sourcing from Odisha rises 27% m-o-m in Oct’21
The steelmaker procured 12,730 tonnes (t) of iron ore from Odisha-based merchant miners in Oct’21, an increase of 27% as compared to 10,052 t in Sept’21. Key suppliers were Prakash Industries, Essel and Rungta Mines. The sourcing includes procurement of ore for Bhushan Power and Steel.
JSW Steel iron ore sourcing in Oct’21 and Sept’21
Quantity in tonnes
Source: SteelMint
Figures exclude JSW Odisha mines and JSW’s Karnataka mines
Provisional data
Monnet and BPSL figures included
Higher crude steel output supports iron ore sourcing
JSW Steel produced 1.425 mn t of crude steel in Oct’21, an increase of 6% compared to 1.343 mn t in September. JSW’s capacity utilisation jumped to 95% in October. Hence, with increase in crude steel production, the company’s iron ore procurement too has increased. It is to be noted that, in early-October, JSW Steel had lit up its second blast furnace at the Dolvi steelworks in Maharashtra. JSW has completed the expansion of the Dolvi plant from 5 million tonnes (mn t) per year to 10 mn t/year. The expansion included installing a 4.5-mn t/year blast furnace, a 5-mn t steel melting shop, a 5-mn t hot strip mill, apart from a 4-mn t/year pellet plant.
Outlook: Fall in global iron ore prices may attract Indian integrated steel mills to imports, which may in turn put domestic prices under pressure.
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