Iron Pellet manufacturers located in the state of Odisha have lowered prices for domestic buyers because of subdued demand from the beginning of October.
Odisha is the largest Pellet producing state in India, with major players namely Jindal Steel, Essar Steel and Brahmani River Pellets.
Sponge iron units are reluctant to buy Pellets as Iron ore lumps are available at cheaper rates. The units are utilizing 50% of the installed capacity and low imports of Scrap have supported Indian Sponge iron prices.
Therefore, Iron Pellet manufacturers are willing to conclude deals for bulk quantity of the material, on discounts. There is further scope of correction in Pellet prices if Rupee stays at similar levels against USD or appreciates further.
Source: SteelMint
Basic Prices (Fe 63), Barbil: Prices Loaded to Wagons, * Prices till October 23
Jindal Steel has sold 44,000 MT of Pellets to JSW Steel from Dhamra Port; this is the second cargo JSW is taking from JSPL.
Bellary based Pellet producers don't expect any improvement in Pellets prices in the next couple of weeks as demand is anticipated to remain same. One of the seller is offering a discount of INR 150/MT to buyers ready to place bookings for 10,000 MT at a time.
Current Pellet offers (INR/MT):
Barbil: 7,000
Keonjhar: 7,000
*Jajpur: 7,250
Raipur: 8,500-8,700
Bellary: 7,100-7,300
(Fe 60): 6,100
Tatanagar: 7,300
Mangalore: 7,700-7,800
Basic Prices (Fe 63)
*Loaded to wagons
India (Export): 140 FoB
China (Import): 163 CFR
Prices in USD/MT
Manufacturers based in Mangalore, Tatanagar and Keonjhar are in discussions with international Pellet buyers and it is expected that more than a couple of export deals might be finalized in the current week.
According to sources, 5,000 MT of Pellets has been imported to Kandla Port (from Russia) till 19 October. Importers of Pellet located in North West region of India have preferred to procure the raw material from domestic market, as it is available at a cheaper price.
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