Odisha's Essel Mining lifts iron ore prices upto INR 700/t ($9)

Aditya Birla Group owned - Essel Mining has increased iron ore fines and lump list price by INR 600/t and INR 700/t as supplies tighten in Odisha. Notably, this is miner's third price hike in Aug'20.

Current offers from its Koira mines are at INR 3,075/t for Fe 62% fines. Iron ore lump (5-18 mm, Fe 62%) offers are at around INR 5,100/t and 10-30 mm (Fe 63%) stand at INR 4,900/t. All offers are on an ex-mines basis and include statutory payments for royalty, DMF & NMET.

The miner has EC limit of 6* mn t pa from its Koira mines.

In last one month, miner has raised prices by INR 1400-1,700/t via successive hikes.

Odisha had auctioned 19 iron ore mines earlier this year, with winning bidders declared for all of these, but operations have not yet resumed in majority of mines. Even mines that are operational, such as those owned by AMNS India and JSW Steel, are producing smaller quantities and for captive use, SteelMint learnt from sources. Hence, shortage of iron ore (lump) is seen in Odisha currently which has resulted in hike in domestic prices.

*EC limit has been corrected from 4 to 6 mn t pa