Essar Steel: Iron Ore Sourcing Up Marginally in Sep'19

Essar Steel - an integrated steelmaker with steel making capacity of 10 MnT p.a. recorded marginal rise in iron ore sourcing for the month of Sep'19 at 0.94 MnT, up by 4% as against 0.90 MnT in Aug'19.

Iron ore procurement from NMDC (C.G.) up 43% M-o-M

Essar Steel procured 0.47 MnT of iron ore in Sep'19 from NMDC's Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh via slurry pipeline, up 43% against Aug'19 procurement by the company at 0.33 MnT.

NMDC reduced prices of iron ore fines and lumps by INR 200/MT and INR 230/MT in DR-CLO and INR 180/MT in ROM. Prior to this the company had lowered prices by same quantum on 21 Aug'19.

Sourcing from Odisha merchant mines fell 19% in Sep'19

Essar Steel sourced 0.45 MnT iron ore in Sep'19 from Odisha's merchant mines, down 19% against Aug'19 sourcing at 0.55 MnT. Sourcing from OMC increased by 38% to 18,473 MT in Sep'19 as against 13,411 MT in Aug'19.

Out of the total iron ore sourced from Odisha merchant mines in Sep'19, largest share contributed by Serajuddin at 0.23 MnT (down 35% M-o-M). However, the miner towards Sep'19 end lowered prices for 5-18 mm (Fe 63%) by INR 300/MT to INR 3,400/MT (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF, & NMET).

Sourcing from KN Ram, Indrani Patnaik and MGM Minerals picked up to 50,920 MT, and 23,130 MT and 19,888 MT respectively.

Essar Steel imports marked nil in Sep'19

Essar Steel's iron ore and pellet imports recorded nil for the ninth consecutive month in Sep'19. The imports were last seen in Dec'18 at 0.15 MnT.

The imports have been on the lower side amid high iron ore prices. Monthly average global iron ore fines (Fe 62%) prices in Sep'19 witnessed at USD 93/MT, CFR China.

Essar Steel Iron ore Sourcing in September'19 & August'19

Qty in MT
Provisional data
Source: SteelMint Research, Customs, Odisha govt.

The Essar Steel bankruptcy case is kept pending so that the matter can be decided taking into consideration recent amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code.