India: Iron ore e-auction sales in Karnataka rise 17% m-o-m in Aug'23

Iron ore e-auctions sales volumes in Karnataka increased by 17% m-o-m to 2.06 million tonnes (mnt) in August 2023 from 1.75 mnt in July, as per SteelMint data. Out of the total material sold in August, 624,000 t were lumps and 1.44 mnt fines. The state government has permitted dispatch of material, which has driven the increase in the frequency of auctions, SteelMint notes.

Auction highlights :

NMDC's sales rise significantly - NMDC, India's top iron ore miner, auctioned 1.56 mnt from Karnataka in August, up 13% m-o-m as against 1.38 mnt in July. Total iron ore fines sold were 1.12 mnt, while 440,000 t of lump ore were sold during the month.

SMIORE emerged as the second leading miner by selling 268,000 t of iron ore via auctions in August. Its volumes increased more than twofold m-o-m against 105,000 t in July.

KSMCL's iron ore volumes decreased by 17.3% m-o-m to 152,000 t in August as compared to 183,998 t in July.

Other miners like Vedanta and R Praveen Chandra sold 64,000 t and 16,000 t, respectively.

Miner-wise auctions

Iron ore prices rise m-o-m: The monthly weighted average price of iron ore lumps moved up, whereas fines prices were stable m-o-m. Prices of Fe 60% fines stood at INR 2,600/t and Fe 63% lumps at INR 3,500/t ex-mines, excluding taxes.