India: AM/NS iron ore sourcing up 19% m-o-m in Jul'21

Steel major ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) recorded iron ore and pellet sourcing of 1.23 million tonnes (mn t) in Jul'21, an increase of 19% against 1.03 mn t seen in Jun'21. The company's captive iron ore sourcing from Odisha was recorded at 382,509 tonnes (t) in Jul'21 as against 279,087 t in Jun'21.

Iron ore procurement from NMDC (Chhattisgarh) up by 12% in Jul'21: The steelmaker procured 745,000 t of iron ore in Jul'21 from NMDC's Bailadila mines (Chhattisgarh) via slurry pipeline, against 665,000 t in Jun'21.

Sourcing from Odisha merchant mines up in Jul'21: The company has sourced of 83,529 t of iron ore from Odisha's merchant mines in Jul'21 as against 70,455 t in the previous month.

Out of the total iron ore sourced from Odisha merchant mines in Jul'21, the largest share was contributed by Rungta Mines at 45,791 t followed by Indrani Patnaik at 23,748 t.

The company recorded nil imports for the month, according to customs data maintained with SteelMint. The spot iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index stood at $218/t, CNF China towards early Jul'21 and decreased to $195/t, CNF China towards end-Jul'21.

Quantity in tonnes
Source: SteelMint
Figure includes AMNS India's captive mines iron ore procurement

Key highlights

• The company is looking to double its pellet capacity to 12 mntpa in Odisha. Additionally, the overall pellet capacity of AM/NS India in the country will expand from 14 mn t to 20 mntpa.
  
  
• AM/NS India has recorded crude steel output of 1.83 mn t in Q2CY'21. Production picked up by 1% on a quarterly basis against 1.82 mn t in Q1CY'21. The demand for steel in India has improved post-unlock. As a result, the company is operating at higher utilisation levels in all its facilities.
  
  
• The company is planning to increase its capacity by 5 mn t at Hazira, Gujarat to take the capacity from 9 mn t to 14 mntpa.
  
  
• AMNS India plans to bid for state-owned steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), which has also attracted the interest of giant Tata Steel. The company is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel, and operates a 7.3 million tonne (MT) steel plant in the state.
  
  
• Pre-operational activities are on at AM/NS India's Sagasahi block and it is expected that operations will commence shortly. The mine has EC limit of 7 mn t/year and ROM production is projected to be gradually ramped up to that limit.