South India: Sponge Manufacturers Prefer Domestic Over Imported Iron Ore

With one iron ore import vessel, southern India steel makers focused more on domestic iron ore/pellet sourcing in Jan’17.

Base prices in Karnataka e-auctions increased in Jan’17- Base prices of NMDC Donimalai mines increased by INR 100-130/MT M-o-M. In Jan’17, base prices remained as follows – Lump (Fe 62.2%) – INR 2,397/MT and fines (Fe 60.2%) – INR 2,083/MT. Base prices for NMDC Kumaraswamy mines in Jan’17 e-auctions remained as follows – Fines (Fe 62.1%) – INR 2,094/MT and lump (Fe 63.4%) – INR 2,423/MT.

Talking about private miners – Vyasankere iron ore mines lump prices increased by INR 150/MT M-o-M in Jan’17. Base price of Lump (Fe 65%) was at INR 2,720/MT and fines (Fe 65%) was at INR 2,550/MT. (All prices mentioned are basic).

Price scenario of sponge grade lump in Jan’17 Karnataka e-auctions –

Lump (10-40 mm , Fe 61.2%) offered by SMIORE was base priced at INR 2,250/MT. The lots were sold at around INR 130/MT higher than base price.

Sponge grade lump (Fe 62.1%, 10-20 mm ) offered by NMDC Kumaraswamy mines was base priced at INR 1,935/MT. The lot was sold at INR 1,945/MT. However other lots containing sponge grade lump of NMDC’s Kumarswamy mines received bids higher upto INR 530-600/MT.

Andhra Pradesh based steel maker – Steel Exchange India continues to source iron ore from NMDC (Chhattisgarh).

Bellary pellet offers moved up in Jan’17 – Amid increase in P-DRI prices, southern India based pellet makers raised pellet offers in Jan’17. Through out the month, pellet (Fe 63%) offers remained stable and kept hovering in the range of INR 5,800-5,900/MT (basic).

Single iron ore import vessel observed in Jan’17 – Southern India based importers – Pulkit Steels and Akshara Industries jointly imported a vessel of 54,300 MT South African iron ore lump at Krishnapatnam port on 06 Jan’17.

Prices of South African lump (Fe 64/63%) is presently at INR 91/MT, CFR China.