SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index remains range-bound, trades improve

SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index has moved up by INR 150/t to INR 4,500/t ex-mines (including royalty, DMF and NMET). Trade activities have picked up in recent auctions conducted by OMC and ESL this week.

At Odisha Mining Corporation’s (OMC’s) iron ore fines auction yesterday, 1.15 mnt put for auction and 1.11 mnt, or 97% of the total quantity received bids. The bid price for fines increased by up to INR 400/t against the last auction on 16 November, 2022. Tight availability of high grade ore fines, lower inventories with mills and supported pellets offers in eastern India have made the auction a success. Notably, OMC is one of India’s leading merchant miners with a production capacity of around 27 mnt annually.

Rationale:

• T1- Three were reported for this week from OMC’s Daitari, Jilling and ESL and therefore taken into consideration for the index calculation and given 50% weightage.
• T2- SteelMint has included seven (7) offers and indicative prices under T2 trade deals in this publishing window. Out of which six (6) were taken into consideration and given 50% weightage. To check SteelMint’s iron ore assessment, pricing methodology, and specification documents.  Click here

India iron ore price:

Chandrapur-based miner keeps lump offer unchanged: A Chandrapur, Maharashtra-based iron ore miner has offered iron ore lumps (5-18mm, Fe 63%) at INR 7,700-7,800/t FOR. Raipur lumps offers remained unchanged. The miner has put fines offers on hold on pending deliveries of previous orders.

Karnataka iron ore auctions receive an active response – NMDC conducted an auction for 600,000 t of iron ore from its Donimalai mines in Karnataka on 13 December, 2022. 200,000 t of lumps (10-40mm, Fe61%) were booked at INR 2,751/t. 400,000 t of fines (Fe59%) were booked at INR 2,056/t. R Praveen Chandra conducted an auction for the sale of 124,000 t of iron ore fines and lumps. According to sources, 4,000 t of fines (Fe61.5%) were booked at INR 2,313/t, and 12,000 t of lumps (Fe57.8%) were booked at INR 3,600/t (exclusive of royalty, DMF and NMET charges).