SteelMint: India low-grade iron ore export index remains range-bound

SteelMint’s weekly export index for low-grade Indian iron ore fines (Fe 57%) is assessed at $26/t FOB east coast India. Prices remained range-bound for the week.

Demand for iron ore continues to slide amidst the ongoing winter steel production curbs and sintering restrictions in China.

Low finished steel demand continues to impact demand for iron ore. In view of fast-falling steel margins and coke prices, producers may switch to blends of low-grade iron ore fines.

“Indian iron ore Fe 57% fines export indications are heard at around $40-45/t CFR China, stable on a weekly basis. But trade remains muted”, a trader source informed SteelMint.

The spot price of benchmark iron ore Fe 62% fines decreased marginally, d-o-d, on 17 Nov to $89.95/t CFR China as against $90.4/t on 16 Nov. However, prices moved up slightly, w-o-w, compared to $89.5/t on 10 Nov.

As per SteelMintdata, total iron ore exports from Indian ports for the week (7 Nov-13 Nov) were recorded at zero as against 54,900 t last week.

Rationale:

• Price indicators:  No confirmed deal was reported in the current publishing window and hence given 0% weightage under T1 trade.
• SteelMint received three (3) indicative prices and offers during the current publishing window, and two (2) were considered for price calculation as T2 inputs, given weightage of 100%.

Market highlights:

• Iron ore stocks rise at Chinese ports: Iron ore inventory at major Chinese ports increased to 147.6 mn t last week as against 145.1 mn t the week before, as per data maintained by SteelHome.
  
• DCE iron ore futures down: DCE iron ore futures’ Jan’22 contract closed at RMB 511.5/t ($80.11), down RMB 27/t d-o-d.
• 1.8 mn t iron orebooked at JSW auction: JSW Steel had scheduled an auction for 1.18 mn t of iron ore fines (Fe 57%) today. The company conducted the e-auction on the MSTC platform. The entire quantity was booked at INR 710/t (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF and NMET). The base price had been set at INR 700/t (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF and NMET), as per reports. JSW Steel will conduct two iron ore auctions on 23-24 Nov. The first is for 600,400 t of iron ore fines (Fe 52-55%), while the other is for a similar quantity of Fe 55-57% fines. The company will conduct the e-auctions from its Jajang mine in Odisha.