Indian Iron Ore Movement Up 6% in Oct'19

As per SteelMint's analysis, iron ore movement across major producing states of the country recorded at 11.21 MnT (excluding exports) in Oct'19 up 6% M-o-M as against 10.59 MnT in Sep'19. The figures are compiled on the basis of movements made via railways, trucks, and Karnataka and import data as per customs. The figures exclude the captive iron ore movement of SAIL & Tata Steel and movement for exports.

State-wise iron ore movement analysis:

Odisha iron ore dispatches down 11% in Sep'19
Odisha- India's largest iron ore producing state recorded total iron ore dispatches at 6.46 MnT in Oct'19, down 11% on monthly basis as against 7.22 MnT in Sep'19. The figures exclude movement for export and dispatches of miners- SAIL & Tata Steel.
Rungta Mines, India's largest private merchant miner, dispatched the iron ore at 1.88 MnT in Oct'19, down 6% as against 2 MnT a month ago.

Iron ore dispatches from C.G up 44% in Oct'19
Iron ore dispatches from Chhattisgarh recorded at 1.66 MnT iron ore in Oct'19, up 44% as against 1.15 MnT in Sep'19.

NMDC (Chhattisgarh) supplied total 303 rakes (1.16 MnT) of iron ore in the month of Oct'19, up 59% against 190 rakes (0.73 MnT) a month before in Sept'19, according to railway movement data maintained with SteelMint.

On 19th Sep, NMDC Ltd announced cut in its iron ore prices. Prices of iron ore fines and lumps were reduced by INR 200/MT and in DR-CLO price cut was by INR 230/MT. Also, easing iron ore production after monsoons resulted in improved production & dispatches.

Karnataka iron ore E-auction sales up 48% for the month
Karnataka iron ore e-auction sales volume has rebounded for the month and registered an increase of 48% in Oct'19 at 2.82 MnT compared to 1.91 MnT in Sept'19. This month sales stood the second-highest in this fiscal year after April'19 sales at 2.9 MnT.

Vedanta stood the largest iron ore supplier for the month at 0.91 MnT as against 0.39 MnT in Sept'19. NMDC was the second-largest iron ore supplier at 0.57 MnT iron ore via e-auctions in Oct'19, up by 36% M-o-M against 0.42 MnT last month. Out of the total quantity sold by NMDC via e-auction, around 86% of the material was purchased by JSW steel and rest 14% by others.

Indian iron ore imports stood nil for the month
Indian iron ore imports for the month of Oct'19 have been recorded nil, according to the data maintained by SteelMint. The imports have recorded nil for the third consecutive month. Indian iron ore imports in July'19 stood at 51,470 MT.

Indian iron ore exports volumes up 53% in Oct'19
Indian iron ore exports have recorded sharp increase in Oct'19. The exports were witnessed at 1.74 MnT, up 53% M-o-M as against Sep'19 exports at 1.14 MnT. The exports have picked up amid increased shipment to China due to global supply tightness.

Rungta mines stood the largest iron ore exporter in Oct'19 at 0.49 MnT. SM Niryat stood second largest exporter and its exports doubled M-o-M to 0.40 MnT, followed by Essel mining at 0.17 MnT, stable M-o-M.

Indian pellet exports down 20% in Oct'19
According to data maintained with SteelMint, Indian pellet export volumes in Oct'19 were recorded at 0.89 MnT, down 20% on monthly basis as against 1.11 MnT a month ago.

The volume fell amid rise in pellet inventory at Chinese ports and Chinese mills preference for domestic ore.

BRPL marked the largest Indian pellet exporter for the month of Oct'19 at 0.251 MnT. JSPL remained second-largest exporter at 0.25 MnT (up 25%), followed by KIOCL at 0.11 MnT (down 4%).

Qty in MnT, Import and Export Fig includes pellet
Excluding SAIL & Tata Captive procurement
Source: SteelMint Research