Odisha’s state-owned miner- Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled its iron ore lump e-auction today (1st June’20). Out of the total quantity of 571,500 MT, 90% of the total material i.e 515,000 MT received bids. Majority of quantities offered from Gandhamardhan and Koira mines got booked, however some material offered from Daitari mines remained unsold.
Bids in today’s auction increased upto INR 900/MT over the set base price.
The miner had reduced the base price, substantially from the last lump auction held on 28th Apr’20. The base price for material offered from Koira mines was reduced by INR 450/MT, from Daitari mines by INR 600/MT and that of Gandhamardan mines by upto INR 350/MT. SteelMint learned from its sources that this came after Kalinganagar Industries Association had put up a request to OMC for price reduction, to enable restart of steel industries in Odisha and make up for losses due to COVID-19.
Thus it seems following reduction in base price and resumption of operations of sponge units, today’s OMC auction fetched active participation.
Bid price comparison of OMC iron ore E-auctions
| Mines | Size | Fe (%) | Base Price as on 28th Apr’20 | Bid Price as on 28th Apr’20 | Base Price as on 1st June | Bid Price as on 1st June | Quantity Offered | Quantity Booked |
| (mm) | (INR/MT) | (INR/MT) | (INR/MT) | (INR/MT) | (MT) | (MT) | ||
| Gandhamardan | 10-40 | 62% | 2,350 | 2,350 | 2,000 | 2100-2150 | 350,000 | 350,000 |
| 10-180 | 65% | 2,100 | – | 1,850 | 2,450 | 1,500 | 1,000 | |
| Kurmitar (Koira) | 10-40 | 62% | 2,650 | 2,650 | 2,200 | 3,100 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Daitari | 10-40 | 62% | 2,800 | – | 2,200 | 2,200 | 120,000 | 64,000 |
| Total | 571,500 | 515,000 | ||||||
Base prices in INR/MT on ex-mines basis; including royalty
Source: SteelMint Research
Odisha- India’s largest iron ore producing state recorded total merchant iron ore dispatches at 1.31 MnT in Apr’20, down 79% as against 6.34 MnT in Mar’20. The figures exclude movement for export and dispatches of miners- SAIL & Tata Steel. Iron ore dispatches fell owing to steel production cuts amid lockdown.
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