India: Iron ore concentrate prices remain stable, active deals reported

Iron ore concentrate prices in Jabalpur, central India, remained stable this week due to a significant increase in pellets and iron ore prices in Odisha amid the ongoing monsoon season.

SteelMint's index for Fe 63% concentrate prices currently stand at around INR 3,000/tonne (t) exw, stable as against the last assessment on 30 July. Some offers were also heard higher at INR 3,500/t exw and at lower levels of INR 2,800/t exw.

Meanwhile, active deals of around 21,000 t were heard at around INR 2,800-3,000/t this week, which were taken into consideration in the T1 trade of the index.

Factors keeping prices stable

• Rise in pellet prices: SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 9,100/t DAP Raipur on 2 August, 2022, up by INR 200/t compared to the last assessment on 29 July. The index edged up due to the hike in pellet offers. As per sources, buyers are silent due to the increased offers and are waiting for some price correction in the upcoming days.
  
  
• Odisha iron ore prices up w-o-w: SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) moved up by around INR 100/t w-o-w to INR 3,650/t ex-mines. Due to seasonal constraints in raw materials and limited offers from merchant players, iron ore prices remained supported despite limited trade volumes.
  
  
• Seasonal factors: During the monsoon season, iron ore availability in India remains tight. This could be supporting iron ore concentrate prices.
  
  

Outlook

Iron ore concentrate prices are likely to remain supported in the near term due to the monsoon and an uptick in pellets and iron ore prices.