India: Sales in Karnataka iron ore e-auctions drop 5% m-o-m in May'23

Karnataka iron ore e-auctions sales volumes decreased by 5% m-o-m to 1.24 million tonnes (mnt) in May 2023 from 1.30 mnt in April, as per SteelMint data. Out of the total material sold, 0.6 mnt were fines and 0.7 mnt lumps.

In May, fewer auctions were notified in Karnataka, while some auctions got postponed or cancelled due to weak market sentiment. Subdued steel market sentiments and dispatch-related issues also led to the supply side being disrupted in Bellary which resulted in lower sales, as per sources.

Auction highlights :

NMDC's sales down in May - NMDC, India's top iron ore miner, auctioned 799,000 t of material from Karnataka in May, down 6 % m-o-m against 848,000 t in April. Total iron ore fines sold was 368,000 t while 431,000 t of lump ore were sold during the month.

SMIORE emerged as the second leading miner by selling 224,000 t of iron ore via auctions in May as against 160,000 t in April. KSMCL, on the other hand, sold 144,000 t of iron ore from its mines.

Vedanta's iron ore volumes increased by 54% m-o-m to 68,000 t in May from 44,000 in April. The entire material was lump ore.

Miner-wise auctions in Karnataka

Lump ore prices drop, fines stable: The monthly weighted average price of iron ore fines remained stable but for lumps it fell by INR 200/t. Price of Fe 60% fines stood at INR 3,000/t and Fe 63% lumps were recorded at INR 3,450/t ex-mines, excluding taxes.