India: Karnataka iron ore e-auction volumes drop 4% m-o-m in Jul'23

Karnataka iron ore e-auctions sales volumes decreased by 4% m-o-m to 1.75 million tonnes (mnt) in July 2023 from 1.83 mnt in June, as per SteelMint data. Out of the total material sold in July, 953,650 tonnes (t) were fines and 798,348 t lumps.

Plants in the region faced material shortage owing to pending dispatch permission from the newly-formed state government, SteelMint notes. Besides, logistical disruptions during the monsoon season contributed to material shortage.

Auction highlights :

NMDC's sales fall significantly in July - NMDC, India's top iron ore miner, auctioned 1.38 mnt of material from Karnataka in July, down 16.3% m-o-m as against 1.65 mnt in June. Total iron ore fines sold were 872,000 t while 507,000 t of lump ore were sold during the month.

KSMCL emerged as the second leading miner by selling 183,998 t of iron ore via auctions in July. It has not conducted any auction in June. During the last auction in May, 144,000 t of of iron ore was sold.

SMIORE's iron ore volumes increased by 19.3% m-o-m to 105,000 t in July from 88,000 t in June.

Other miners like Vedanta, SKMEPL, and VESCO sold 28,000 t, 32,000 t and 28,000 t, respectively.

Miner-wise auctions

Iron ore prices stable m-o-m: The monthly weighted average price of iron ore fines and lumps remained stable m-o-m. Prices of Fe 60% fines stood at INR 2,600/t and Fe 63% lumps were recorded at INR 3,150/t ex-mines, excluding taxes.