SteelMint: Odisha iron ore index rises; market waiting for OMC auction

Domestic iron ore prices have increased in all the major mining states. SteelMint’s weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) has risen further by INR 300/tonne (t) w-o-w to INR 6,800/t ex-mines. Amid limited availability of high-grade ore, rake availability issues and the hike in pellet and steel prices have kept iron ore prices supported.

Rationale:

• T1- No confirmed deal was heard this week; therefore, weightage kept at nil for this week.
• T2- SteelMint received eleven (11) offers and indicative prices under T2 trades in this publishing window. Seven (7) were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check SteelMint’s iron ore assessment, pricing methodology, and specification documents Click here

Odisha iron ore prices:

Paucity of high-grade material owes to fact that EC limits of some miners have been exhausted and they are not offering material in the market.

On the other hand, pellet prices in Odisha’s Barbil increased sharply this week. The current assessment for pellets (Fe 63%) stands at INR 13,500/t loaded on to wagon, up INR 1,400/t against 8 Mar.

Market awaits OMC iron ore auction outcome:  State PSU miner OMC has scheduled an iron ore auction for 15 Mar. Around 792,000 t of lump ore and 1,047,000 t of fines will be put up for auction. The base price of the auction is yet to be disclosed. In the previous auction, the miner received active response, with 1.09 mnt of material (98%) getting booked out of the total quantity of 1.109 mnt.

NMDC hikes prices by up to INR 480/t ($6): NMDC (Chhattisgarh) has raised iron ore prices further by up to INR 480/t. Hike in iron ore prices in Odisha and pellet offers have resulted in hike in offers. The revised offers are at – DR CLO (10-40mm, Fe 67%) – INR 7,200/t and that of Baila fines (Fe 64%) – INR 4,960/t.

Bids increase at Karnataka iron ore auction by private miners – Bids increase at the iron ore e-auction conducted by private miners in Karnataka on 9 Mar’22. The auction fetched bids for 308,000 t out of a total of 509,000 t. JSW Steel was the largest buyer at 124,000 t followed by Jindal SAW Limited at 72,000 t. Bids for iron ore lumps (Fe 65%) offered by Vyasankere Iron Ore Mines increased to INR 4,950/t against INR 4,600/t at the previous auction on 25 Feb.