India: Iron ore concentrate prices fall marginally as pellet prices drop

Iron ore concentrate prices in Jabalpur, central India, saw a downward trend this week with a correction in pellet prices. Weak response to Odisha Mining Corporation's (OMC) recent iron ore fines auction has also affected concentrate prices, SteelMint understands.

SteelMint's index for Fe 63% concentrate prices currently stands at around INR 5,550/tonne (t) exw, down INR 50/t w-o-w.

Rationale:

• No deal was reported in the current publishing window.
  
  
• Five (5) firm offers and indicative prices were reported, out of which four (4) were taken into consideration in T2 and accorded the balance 100% weightage.
  
  

Factors affecting iron ore concentrate prices-

• Drop in pellet prices w-o-w: SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 9,300/t DAP Raipur on 18 April 2023, inching down by around INR 50/t w-o-w. Also, most of the sponge players had concluded active pellet bookings last week owing to which deals have remained slow this week.
  
  
• Odisha iron ore prices unchanged w-o-w: SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe62%) index remains stable w-o-w at INR 5,700/t ex-mines. Lower trade volumes amidst a fall in pellet prices kept iron ore prices stable.
  
  
• Weak response to OMC's fines auction: At OMC's auction, 645,000 t of iron ore fines (Fe54-64%) were offered, out of which only 252,000 t were booked at INR 2,500-6,400/t ex-mines and the remaining quantity remained unsold. Due to the drop in PELLEX Raipur and Barbil pellet prices, buyers showed less interest at this auction, SteelMint observed.
  
  

Outlook

With pellet prices falling, there may be some pressure on iron ore concentrate prices.