India: Iron ore concentrate prices remain stable amid supportive market sentiments

Iron ore concentrate prices in Jabalpur, central India, continued to remain stable this week. Hike in pellet and Odisha iron ore prices have supported concentrate prices.

SteelMint's bi-weekly index for Fe 63% concentrate currently stands at INR 4,700/tonne (t) exw, stable as against the prices seen on 11 November, 2023. The market is eagerly awaiting NMDC's price revision to get a better price clarity.

"Hike in pellet offers and Odisha iron ore prices along with active buying from traders for exports at competitive prices are supporting iron ore concentrate offers," said a Jabalpur-based seller.

Rationale:

• One (1) trade of 20,000 t was recorded in this publishing window at INR 4,700/t exw and was accorded with a 50% weightage.
  
  
• Seven (7) offers and indicative prices were reported, out of which six (6) were taken into consideration as T2 trades, receiving a 50% weightage.
  
  

Factors supporting concentrate prices:

• Hike in pellet offers amid active export bookings: SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, increased by INR 300/t to INR 9,650/t DAP Raipur on 14 November, 2023 compared to the last assessment on 10 November. Last week pellet makers remained active in export bookings from central India and around 110,000 t of deals were recently concluded. This provided support to domestic offers as well. However, buyers remained on the sidelines in the festive season.
  
  
• Odisha iron ore fines prices edge up w-o-w: SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index increased marginally w-o-w by INR 50/t to INR 4,900/t ex-mines on 11 November, 2023. The Odisha iron ore market saw mixed sentiments this week, as most miners have limited inventory of high-grade iron ore fines. On the other hand, pellet export market offers improved significantly over the last few days on active Chinese buying, and export realisation was reported to be better than domestic.
  
  

Outlook

Iron ore concentrate offers are expected to remain supported in the near term. Moreover, the market is eagerly waiting for NMDC's price revision for November 2023 deliveries - which is round the corner - for better price clarity.