SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index remains stable amid less trade

SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index has remained unchanged at INR 4,500/tonne (t) ex-mines (including royalty, DMF and NMET). Market participants reported limited trade activities this week amidst pending deliveries of previous bookings due to rake availability issues. Also, pellets prices in eastern India remained range-bound throughout the week, which is another factor behind stability in Odisha iron ore prices.

However, deals for low grade fines continued to remain in place on active export demand.

Rationale:

• T1- No deal was reported in fines (Fe 62%) therefore not taken into consideration for the index calculation and given 0% weightage.
• T2- SteelMint has included eight (8) offers and indicative prices under T2 trade deals in this publishing window. Out of this, six (6) were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check SteelMint’s iron ore assessment, pricing methodology, and specification documents Click here

India iron ore prices:

NMDC Chhattisgarh may increase iron ore prices for January supply – SteelMint started a new feature of predictive analysis a few months ago, where correlation between certain “predictors”/parameters/market or price influencers suggest an indication of future price movements of a particular commodity. SteelMint has studied NMDC’s price data for the last five years to identify 11 parameters/ influencers which, it feels, are highly correlated, directly or indirectly, with its iron ore price movements. In the current study, out of 11 parameters, 3 are reflecting a downtrend at present, 7 are showing positive and one remained unchanged. It can be assumed that NMDC is most likely to hike iron ore prices in January dispatches.

Karnataka iron ore e-auctions receive subdued response – BKG Mining conducted an auction of 80,000 t of iron ore from its Haddinapade mines. 20,000 t of fines (Fe63.50%) were booked at floor prices of INR 2,700/t. Prices were exclusive of royalty, DMF, and NMET charges. VESCO conducted two auctions of 104,000 t of iron ore. Out of which 12,000 t of fines (Fe61.6-63.5%) and 8,000 t of lumps (Fe62.6-64.95%) were booked at base prices of INR 3,250-3,475/t and 4,200-4,550/t, respectively. Prices were including royalty, DMF, and NMET charges.