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India: Iron ore concentrate prices drop further amid weak market sentiments

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Concentrates

BigMint Bureau

235 Reads

10 Jul 2024, 18:24 IST

India: Iron ore concentrate prices drop further amid weak market sentiments

Trades conclude at lower offers

Pellet, Odisha iron ore prices fall

Monsoon to put pressure on production volumes

Iron ore concentrate prices in Jabalpur, central India, witnessed a further drop this week. Active trades at lower offers along with bearish sentiments prevailing in pellet and Odisha iron ore markets continued to weigh on the concentrate market, BigMint noted.

BigMint's weekly iron ore concentrate index stood at INR 4,250/t ($51/t) exw, showing a fall of INR 100/t ($1/t) as against the last assessment on 6 July. Prices are hovering at over two-month low. However, buyers' bids were heard at lower levels of INR 3,900/t ($47/t) exw. Although, deals at such lower price levels are still awaited.

Rationale:

Three (3) trades were recorded in this publishing window, and were accorded with a 50% weightage.

Eight (8) offers and indicative prices were reported, out of which seven (7) were taken into consideration as T2 trades, receiving 50% weightage.

Factors behind drop in concentrate offers:

Pellet prices fall amid drop in offers: BigMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index dropped by INR 200/t ($2/t) to INR 9,350/t ($112/t) DAP Raipur on 9 July, 2024 compared to the last assessment on 5 July. Producers in the region reduced pellet prices today following a cautious approach from buyers over the last few days. Sponge iron manufacturers from the neighbouring regions quoted competitive prices which created selling pressure on the Raipur-based plants.

Odisha iron ore fines prices inch down w-o-w: BigMint's Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index inched down by INR 50/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 4,700/t ($56/t) ex-mines on 6 July, 2024. On the other hand, some participants said that material shortage is seen in some mines which have been impacted by heavy rains and led to logistic bottlenecks as well.

Outlook

Iron ore concentrate offers are expected to exhibit volatility in the near term amid fluctuation in pellet and Odisha iron ore prices. Meanwhile, demand for concentrates is going to slow down amid the monsoon.