SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index falls marginally after OMC auction

SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) has moved down by around INR 150/t w-o-w, to INR 4,600/t ex-mines.

Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) had scheduled an iron ore fines auction on 15 Jan'22 in which out of a total of 1.175 mn t of material, 1 mn t (85%) received bids.

Earlier, the miner had raised the base price of fines by INR 200-300/t against the last re-auction on 17 Dec'21. The auction received flat bids i.e. in line with the base price, except for the high-grade lot which fetched a premium of INR 400/t, as per SteelMint sources. The key buyers were Orissa Metaliks, Rashmi Metaliks, BRPL and Super Smelters.

Rationale:

• T1- OMC's 20,000 t deal from Guali was taken into consideration Fe 62% fines for the calculation of the index and given 50% weightage. Rest of the deals were not considered.
  
  
• T2- SteelMint received ten (10) offers and indicative prices under T2 trades in this publishing window. Five (05) were taken into consideration and given 50% weightage. To check SteelMint's iron ore assessment, pricing methodology, and specification documents Click here
  
  

Odisha iron ore prices:

Highlights from other states:

• NMDC to auction nearly 320,000 t iron ore from Chhattisgarh mines: Leading PSU miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has scheduled two iron ore auctions. The first auction is for 222,600 t of Fe 64%-67% grade material from the company's Bacheli mines, while the second is for 100,800 t of Fe 64%-65.5% grade ore from the Kirandul mines - both in Chhattisgarh. The auctions are scheduled for 19 Jan.
  
  
• NMDC's iron ore auction from Karnataka (Kumaraswamy) receives tepid response: NMDC had conducted an iron ore e-auction on 4 Jan from its Kumaraswamy mines at which 277,000 t of material was booked out of a total of 416,000 t. JSW Steel emerged as the largest buyer at 112,000 t, followed by BMM Ispat Limited at 32,000 t. The iron are lump (Fe 61.88%) lot was booked at INR 3,356/t (basic, taxes extra), down by INR 361/t as against the previous auction on 21 Dec.
  
  
• Goa DMG increases offered quantity for upcoming e-auction - SteelMint reported last week that the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) of Goa plans to conduct the 27th e-auction for 2.17 mn t of iron ore. The material to be put to auction consists of fines, lumps, and run of mine (ROM) ore. In the latest update received, the offered quantity has been increased to 2.22 mn t and the scheduled date is 19 Jan.