India: NMDC’s iron ore rake movements fall by 8% m-o-m in Feb’26

• Dispatches down from other states drop by 13%
• NMDC’s iron ore production edge down 4% m-o-m in Feb’26

The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore miner, dispatched 598 rakes from its Chhattisgarh mines in February, equivalent to 2.30 million tonnes (mnt) of iron ore.

This recorded a correction of 7.6% compared to 647 rakes (2.49 mnt) in January, as per BigMint data. On a y-o-y basis, dispatches in February surged by 8.33% compared with 552 rakes in February 2025.

NMDC’s rake movements softened in February despite higher dispatches to its Nagarnar plant. The decline was mainly due to reduced sourcing by plants in other states and lower lifting by Chhattisgarh-based mills (excluding NMDC). However, several plants taking alternative iron ore markets offering also.

Notably, these volumes are for rake movements within Chhattisgarh and to other state-based units but exclude supply to AM/NS India through the slurry pipeline. Each rake carries around 3,850 t of iron ore.

Meanwhile, NMDC posted its monthly production at 5.35 mnt in February, marking a 3.8% drop compared to 5.56 mnt in January.

Sourcing by Chhattisgarh-based units rise 5% m-o-m

NMDC dispatched 216 (0.83 mnt) iron ore rakes to Chhattisgarh-based units in February, an increase of 4.6% as against 206 (0.79 mnt) in January. Interestingly, supplies to NMDC’s Nagarnar plant spiked by 37% to 134 rakes in February against 98 in January. Additionally, NMDC’s rake movements to other steelmakers across the state dipped m-o-m.

In Chhattisgarh, several sponge iron units continued to prefer iron ore lumps and probably booked earlier.

Sourcing by units outside Chhattisgarh falls 13% m-o-m

Overall, NMDC’s iron ore movements to plants outside Chhattisgarh dropped around 13% to 382 rakes in February against 441 in the past month.

Intake by Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the leading buyer, decreased, with the steelmaker receiving 156 rakes against 193 in the previous month.

JSW Steel Dolvi plant iron ore rakes in February, slashed down to 84 rakes against 95 rakes m-o-m, driving a 11.6% drop.

Dispatches to KIOCL rose by 30.3% m-o-m to 43 rakes in February month, slight up from 33 rakes in January, mainly due to some recent deals in the pellet export market, which prompted a need-based buying and enhanced procurement strategy.

Jindal Steel Odisha Limited received 37 rakes in February against 55 rakes in January.

Outlook

NMDC’s iron ore rake movements are expected to stay stable, towards the end of financial year closing. While upside may be limited by inventory adjustments, overall volumes should remain firm with mild fluctuations.