India’s leading iron ore miner, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), produced 3.06 million tonnes (mn t) of iron ore in Aug’21, stable on a monthly basis, SteelMint learnt from the state-owned miner’s recent BSE disclosure.
Out of the total volume produced in Aug’21, the miner recorded a major chunk of output from its Chhattisgarh mines at 2.14 mn t, while the remaining 0.92 mn t was extracted from the company’s Karnataka mines. The miner’s production from Chhattisgarh inched up 3%, m-o-m. However, production from Karnataka fell on a monthly basis.
Source: BSE filings, SteelMint Research
Qty in mn t
Iron ore sales down in Aug’21
NMDC recorded a 12% decrease in its total iron ore sales for the month under review to 2.91 mn t as against 3.29 mn t in Jul. Total sales from the Chhattisgarh mines stood at 2.14 mn t and the remaining 0.77 mn t were from the Karnataka mines.
The company has registered a 63% hike in sales on an annual basis as against 1.79 mn t in Aug’20. The miner’s cumulative iron ore production and sales figures up to Aug (Apr-Aug’21) achieved a 44% increase in production and 45% hike in sales over the corresponding period last year.
In a statement, NMDC CMD Sumit Deb said, “Our performance in the first five months of the current fiscal is very encouraging. This also puts us in a strong position to pursue our plans for this fiscal with greater confidence. I appreciate the efforts of each and every employee for remaining focused in achieving our targets for FY22.”
The company expects production of 44 mn t in FY’22 (new screening plant to add 2-2.5 mn t in Kirandul) and only a marginal rise in FY’23.
NMDC’s current EC limit is 51.9 mn t and plans are afoot to expand it to 83 mn t. Kumarswamy mines’ cap is likely to be increased to 10 mn t from the current 7 mn t. Deposit 4 has been allotted to NMDC. Also, the company is in talks with the Odisha and Jharkhand governments for additional mining blocks.
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