India: NMDC’s iron ore rake movements drop 15% m-o-m in Jun’25

• Iron ore dispatches to non-state units fall 9% m-o-m
• Downtrend in steel prices leads to subdued demand

The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore miner, dispatched 481 rakes from its Chhattisgarh mines in June 2025, equivalent to 1.85 million tonnes (mnt) of iron ore. This was a drop of 15% compared to 566 rakes (2.18 mnt) in May 2025, as per BigMint data.

These rake movements were within Chhattisgarh and to other state-based units but excluded supply to AM/NS India through the slurry pipeline. Each rake carries around 3,850 t of iron ore.

NMDC’s monthly iron ore output was recorded at 3.57 mnt in June, down by 19% m-o-m from 4.43 mnt in May.

Sourcing by Chhattisgarh-based units drops 25% m-o-m

NMDC dispatched 152 (0.59 mnt) iron ore rakes to Chhattisgarh-based units in June, down by 25% as against 203 (0.78 mnt) in May. Additionally, NMDC’s supplies to its Nagarnar plant dropped by 26% in June to 90 rakes compared to 121 in May.

NMDC experienced a drop in iron ore rake movements, driven by a poor sponge and semi-finished market. This market downtrend is evident from Raipur’s CLO-based sponge iron prices falling by around INR 1,300/t m-o-m to INR 26,900/t in June. Additionally, pellet prices declined by INR 400/t m-o-m to INR 9,200/t DAP Raipur, further pressuring market sourcing for the raw material.

Sourcing by units outside Chhattisgarh falls 9% m-o-m

Overall, NMDC’s iron ore movements to plants outside Chhattisgarh fell by 9.4% to 329 rakes in June against 363 rakes in May.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) emerged as the top buyer in June, receiving 121 rakes against 154 booked in the previous month, a slump of 21%. RINL actively sought pellets and CLO for procurement via tenders, which led to lower bookings from NMDC.

JSW Steel, Dolvi, received 70 iron ore rakes in June, a fall of 26% compared with 94 in May. The decline was due to increased preference for imported iron ore and easier availability of material from Maharashtra-based local miners at competitive prices.

KIOCL recorded a spike of 100% in its iron ore rake bookings from NMDC, at 58 in June compared to 29 in May. This was primarily driven by active pellet export tenders, which kept iron ore demand firm.

AM/NS India sourced 14 rakes in June, stable m-o-m against May bookings.

Outlook:

Iron ore rake movements are likely to see an uptick in the near term, following NMDC’s recent reduction of INR 400-650/t in CLO and fines prices announced a few days ago. However, heavy monsoon conditions could disrupt logistics, potentially impacting dispatch volumes and posing a risk to supply chain continuity.