India: Iron ore concentrate offers surge on limited availability, NMDC price hike

The price rally in iron ore and pellets has continued to drive up sentiments in the Indian concentrates market. Offers of iron ore concentrates in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur have risen by INR 750/t, w-o-w. SteelMint's assessment for Fe 63% concentrates stands at INR 6,250/t exw.

Factors supporting the hike in concentrates prices-

• Limited offers on pending old deliveries: Suppliers with limited availability are currently delivering the remaining quantity of old orders, due to which some suppliers are not able to offer new volumes and some Madhya Pradesh-based concentrates supplier further increased their offers to INR 6,300-6,500/t exw.
  
  
• Hike in pellet prices: SteelMint's pellet prices stood at INR 14,400/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 8 Mar'22, up around INR 1,100/t against the last assessment on 4 Mar'22. The prices hit a seven-month high.
  
  
• Hike in domestic iron ore prices: NMDC raised iron ore fines prices further by INR 400/t yesterday, resulting in a jump in concentrates offers. Iron ore prices also rose in Odisha.
  
  

Outlook

In view of increasing demand for iron ore concentrates in the last few yeras, several plants including Pacific Iron, Geomin and Jakhodia Minerals are planning capacity expansions. Some greenfield projects are also in the pipeline.