NMDC concludes iron ore auction from Chhattisgarh; DR CLO fetches premium of INR 480/t

India's largest and state-owned merchant iron ore miner - National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) conducted an e-auction on 14th Aug for 116,000t iron ore from its Chhattisgarh mines.

The offered quantity consisted of 40,000 t ROM, 36,000 t iron ore fines, 24,000 t lumps and 16,000 t DR CLO.

SteelMint learned from its channels that the entire quantity was booked. DR-CLO fetched a premium of INR 480/t, fines was concluded at a premium of INR 60/t and ROM at the base price.

Product description of NMDC CG auction:

Qty in t
Source: MSTC, SteelMint

Notably, NMDC increased prices for lump and fines by INR 300-350/t each w.e.f 11th Aug'20. This was the miner's 2nd price hike made this month. Baila lump (Fe 65.5%) price is at INR 2,950/wet metric tonne (wmt) and fines (Fe 64%) stands at INR 2,660/wmt, DR CLO (Fe 67%) at INR 3,430/wmt and ROM at INR 2,800/wmt. NMDC sets prices on a free-on-road (FoR) basis and does not include royalty and taxes.

Iron ore prices are on an uptrend on the back of lower supplies from the key producing state of Odisha and an uptick in demand from steel producers. Demand has increased from mills as global and domestic prices of downstream products such as billet, DRI, iron ore pellet and HRC have picked up since early July.