Karnataka has registered a decline of 12% Y-o-Y iron ore sales via e-auction in CY’18. Total iron ore allotted quantity stood at 25.41 MnT in CY18 compared to 29 MnT in CY’17.
Monthly iron ore sales volume in Karnataka e-auction has decreased sharply in Dec’18. Karnataka e-auction sales have decreased by 26% to 2.07 MnT M-o-M in Dec’18 compared to 2.79 MnT in Nov’18.
Vedanta turns out to be the largest supplier to JSW-: Vedanta turns out to be the largest iron ore supplier to JSW Steel in Dec’18. They have increased supply sharply to JSW Steel to 0.67 MnT as compared to 0.04 MnT in Nov’18.
JSW Steel’s iron ore purchases from Karnataka e-auctions decreased significantly by 25% to 1.16 MnT in Dec’18 compared to 1.54 MnT in Nov’18. Out of 1.16 MnT iron ore sourced by JSW, NMDC supplied 0.30 MnT and thus contributed around 26% of total JSW sourcing. JSW Steel’s iron ore sourcing from private mines have decreased by 5% to 0.86 MnT in Dec’18 as against 0.91 MnT in Nov’18.
NMDC’s iron ore sales decline sharply following Donimalai issue -: NMDC’s iron ore sales decreased by 62% M-o-M to 0.39 MnT in Dec’18 compared to 1.01 MnT in Nov’18. Amid suspension in iron ore mining activities in NMDC Donimalai, total sales volumes have come down drastically. NMDC sold all its iron ore from its Kumaraswamy mines recording a sharp decrease in its sales volume by almost three times.
NMDC’s announcement of temporarily suspending operations at Donimalai in Karnataka does not seem set for a quick resolution with the Centre intervening to broker peace between the miner and the Karnataka government. As per the senior state-level officials, NMDC has approached the Karnataka High Court for an urgent hearing on NMDC Donimalai lease renewal pending decision on the representation by the Karnataka Govt. As per the reports, Court will hear the matter on Jan 10, 2019.
Buyer-wise allotted quantity of Dec’18 iron ore e-Auctions-:
| Company | Fines | Lumps | Grand Total |
| JSW Steel Ltd | 1,096,000 | 64,000 | 1,160,000 |
| BMM Ispat Limited | 176,000 | – | 176,000 |
| MSPL Limited | 110,334 | – | 110,334 |
| Rai Bahadur Seth Shreeram Narasingdas Private Limited | 84,001 | 15,000 | 99,001 |
| Minera Steel And Power Private Limited | 44,000 | – | 44,000 |
| Others | 133,386 | 348,500 | 481,886 |
| Grand Total | 1,643,721 | 427,500 | 2,071,221 |
Qty in MT
Source: GOK, DMG, SteelMint Research
Major Highlights of Dec’18 Karnataka iron ore e-auctions:
1. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited – public sector enterprise had not purchased any iron ore this month from Karnataka e-auction in Dec’18.
2. Vedanta procured 31,500 MT iron ore lumps in Dec’18 for its pig iron plant in Goa.
3. Electrotherm India Ltd a Gujarat based company procured 4,000 MT iron ore lumps in Dec’18.
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