At state PSU miner Odisha Mining Corporation’s (OMC) iron ore fines e-auction on 8 Jul’21, 1.06 mn t of material was booked at just upto INR 250/t above the base price, as per SteelMint reports. The base price for the auction had been increased by up to INR 500/t as against the last iron ore fines e-auction conducted by OMC on 10 May. The material offered was from OMC’s Gandhamardan, Daitari, Koira, Jilling, Tiring Pahar and Guali mines.
However, bids dropped by INR 1,100-1,950/t compared to the May auction, which was surprising given the prevailing stiff market prices of iron ore offered by the private merchant miners in Odisha. SteelMint’s weekly iron ore fines Fe 63% index was assessed at around INR 10,200/t on 3 Jul, up INR 800/t m-o-m.
SteelMint has learnt from reliable sources that OMC is likely to hold a meeting to be chaired by the Managing Director of the company today to decide whether to annul the auction or approve it. The possibility of the auction getting cancelled can’t be ruled out, as per sources, due to the fact that bids, according to OMC officials.
However, on the other hand, it is believed that softening bids at OMC’s auction could prompt Odisha-based private miners to reduce prices, which should come as a huge relief to scores of downstream producers. By the Odisha government’s own reckoning, iron ore prices have increased by 270-300% in the state in the last one year or so.
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