India: Iron ore concentrate prices fall INR 150/t amid drop in offers

• Deals conclude at lower offers
  
  
• Pellet, Odisha iron ore market sentiments weakens
  
  
• Monsoon rains to put pressure on prices
  
  

Iron ore concentrate prices in Jabalpur, central India, witnessed a drop this week. Drop in offers followed by deal getting concluded at the similar levels along with weak market sentiments in pellet and Odisha iron ore market have weighed on concentrate prices, BigMint noted.

BigMint's weekly iron ore concentrate index stood at around INR 4,800-4,900/t ($57-59/t) exw, a fall of INR 150/t ($2/t) as against the last assessment on 8 June, 2024.

"Buyers are asking concentrate at lower offers now post drop in pellet and iron ore prices", mentioned a Jabalpur-based seller.

Rationale:

• Two (2) trades of 60,000 t were recorded in this publishing window, and were considered under T1 trade and was accorded with a 50% weightage.
  
  
• Seven (7) offers and indicative prices were reported and all were taken into consideration as T2 trades, receiving 50% weightage.
  
  

Factors supporting concentrate offers:

• Pellet prices remain unchanged amid muted trade: BigMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index remained largely stable at INR 10,650/t ($127/t) DAP Raipur on 11 June, 2024 compared to the last assessment on 7 June. Pellet-buying interest in Raipur didn't improve post-parliamentary election results as buyers waited for offers to drop further. Sponge iron and billet prices have dropped over the last one week. One of the major pellet player reduced offers by INR 300/t ($4/t) to INR 10,800/t ($129/t) exw-Raipur. However, no deals were reported so far.
  
  
• Odisha iron ore market witness slow market activity: BigMint's Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index inched down by INR 50/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 5,450/t ($65/t) ex-mines on 8 June, 2024. No major trading activity was witnessed in the region as buyers were away from the market. Major merchant miners kept their offers stable.
  
  

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 typically slows down during the monsoon - which is expected to weigh on offers.