India: Iron ore sales at Karnataka e-auction jumps to 11-month high in Oct'21

Karnataka recorded a 33%, month-on-month, rise in its iron ore e-auction sales volumes in Oct'21. The total allotted iron ore quantity in Oct was 3.24 million tonnes (mn t) as against 2.44 mn t in Sep. Sales rose to a 11-month high since Dec'20, as per data maintained with SteelMint.

Active bookings by mills on the recovery in steel demand outlook post monsoons, backed by hike in steel prices, resulted in mills actively booking iron ore from auctions in the southern Indian state.

JSW's iron ore sourcing from Karnataka up 38%: Purchases by JSW Steel, the largest buyer at Karnataka's iron ore auctions, increased by 38% in Oct. JSW purchased around 1.75 mn t of iron ore from the Karnataka e-auctions last month against 1.27 mn t in Sep.

Out of 1.75 mn t sourced, NMDC supplied 0.72 mn t (a marked increase compared to 0.45 mn t in Sep), accounting for around 41% of JSW Steel's total sourcing.

Vedanta remained the second-largest iron ore supplier to JSW Steel at 0.59 mn t against 0.40 mn t in Sep.

Buyer-wise allotted quantities in Oct'21 iron ore e-auctions

Qty in tonnes (t)
Source: GOK, DMG, SteelMint Research
All prices mentioned are basic, taxes extra

Sales from NMDC up m-o-m: NMDC sold 1.23 mn t of iron ore via the Karnataka e-auctions in Oct against 0.78 mn t in the previous month, (including production from the Donimalai mines). NMDC's Donimalai mines sold around 0.49 mn t in Oct.

Iron ore sales from Vedanta were recorded at 0.60 mn t in Oct against 0.48 mn t in Sep.

Highlights of Oct Karnataka iron ore e-auctions

• Vedanta procured 56,000 t of iron ore, of which 16,000 t were fines (Fe 55.5%) and 40,000 t were lump ore (Fe 63.08%-66%).
  
  
• Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), a public limited company, bought around 80,000 t of iron ore lumps (Fe 61%) at INR 4,655/t. The entire purchase was from NMDC's Donimalai mines. All prices mentioned are basic, excluding taxes.
  
  
• Eastern-India based Electrosteel Casting Limited booked 4,000 t of iron ore lumps (Fe 62.3%) at the Karnataka auctions at INR 5,753/t.
  
  
• Western India-based Electrotherm booked 8,000 t of iron ore lumps (Fe 64.38%) at INR 6,440/t from P. Balasubba Setty and Sons.