India: Chrome ore dispatches inch up by 6% m-o-m in Feb'23

Indian chrome ore dispatches inched up by 6% m-o-m in February 2023 amid strong ferro chrome demand.

Meanwhile, dispatches from FACOR and IMFA increased sharply by 41% and 19% m-o-m respectively in February for their captive consumption. Furthermore, OMC's dispatch inched up by 5% m-o-m in February to domestic smelters.

However, dispatches from TATA Steel edged up by 2% m-o-m in February with around 36% (55,253 t) of total dispatches kept for captive consumption.

Procurement trend

IMFA (75,902 t), Jindal Stainless (65,127 t) and TATA Steel (55,253 t) remained "largest buyers" of domestic chrome ore in January 2023.

IMFA procured 99% (75,118 t) of total purchased material from captive mines. A very small quantity of around 785 t has been procured from OMC. In addition, Jindal Stainless procured 68% of its total purchased material from OMC, while the remaining quantity of 20,716 t were procured from TATA Steel.