India: Odisha iron ore dispatches up 10% in Oct'20

Odisha- India's largest iron ore producing state recorded total merchant iron ore dispatches at 5.68 mn t in Oct'20, up 10% as against 5.17 mn t in Sep'20. The figures exclude movement for export and dispatches of miners- SAIL, JSW & Tata Steel.

Key highlights

• Rungta Mines recorded the highest dispatches of iron ore at 1.16 mn t in Oct'20, up 21% as against 0.96 mn t in Sep'20.
  
  
• Essel mining dispatches recorded at 0.81 mnt , up 47% against 0.55 mn t in Sep'20.
  
  
• OMC, state-owned miner, recorded a rise in dispatches to 0.70 mn t for the month as against 0.62 mn t in the last month (Sep'20).
  
  
• Serajuddin mines dispatches recorded a 21% rise on a monthly basis to 0.28 mn t in Oct'20 as compared to 0.23 mn t in Sep'20.
  
  

Odisha Iron ore Dispatches in Oct'20 & Sep'20

Quantity in mn t
Excluding movement for export & movement of SAIL,JSW and Tata Steel
Provisional Data
Source: Govt. of Odisha

The Odisha high Court hearing on plea for extension of timeline for disposal of iron ore stocks with erstwhile lessees scheduled for 16th Nov'20 has been postponed to 20th Nov'20, sources told to SteelMint. The stocks, assessed at over 16 mn t, had to be cleared by 31st Oct'20. However, six former lessees got a stay by invoking the force majeure clause, citing the pandemic as an unforeseen event that stalled timely disposal of many low-grade stocks.