SteelMint: Odisha iron ore fines index up marginally on hike in offers

SteelMint's weekly Odisha iron ore fines index (Fe 62%) was up by INR 100/t w-o-w to INR 3,200/t ex-mines. A hike in sponge and pellet prices this week resulted in an increase in fines prices. No deal was heard so far at the increased prices but few are still under negotiation.

SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 8,000/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 1 July, 2022, up by around INR 500/t w-o-w.. Around 29,000 t of pellet (Fe 62/Fe 63%) deals were reported at around INR 7,950-8,350/t DAP Raipur.

Rationale:

• T1- No confirmed deal for high grade (Fe 62%) was heard this week. Therefore, 0% weightage was given in this index.
  
  
• T2- SteelMint received eleven (11) offers and indicative prices under T2 trade deals in this publishing window out of which nine (09) were taken into consideration and given 100% weightage. To check SteelMint's iron ore assessment, pricing methodology and specification documents Click here.
  
  

As per sources, a few deals of lumps 5-18mm Fe 62% were also heard in this week at the increased offers of INR 6,500/t exw. A few miners are not offering in the market as they are either overbooked or watching the market closely.

Highlights from other states:

• Iron ore prices from Lloyds Metals, Maharashtra unchanged in recent deals: The miner's offers for lumps (5-18mm, Fe 63%) were recorded at INR 7,000/t FOR Raipur. As per sources, the miner has done a decent deal in this week for 5-18mm (Fe 63%) lumps at around 20,000 t at INR 7,000/t FOR Raipur.
  
  
• NMDC's iron ore lump auction from Chhattisgarh receives weak response: National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) conducted an auction for sale of around 20,000 t of Baila-sized lump of Fe 65.5% (indicative) grade material from its Bacheli mines on 28 June. According to sources, out of the total quantity, only 8,000 t was booked at the base price of INR 4,433/t FOR siding. The miner recorded iron ore rake movements from Chhattisgarh at 209 in June, 2022, lower by 30% against 299 in May, according to data maintained with SteelMint.
  
  
• Karnataka iron ore auction fetches flat bids: Vedanta scheduled an auction yesterday for the sale of iron ore fines from its A. Narrain mines in Karnataka's Chitradurga district. According to market sources, the entire quantity of 100,000 t of fines (-10mm, Fe 55-58%) was booked at the base price of INR 1,438/t (excluding royalty, DMF and NMET). Also, the miner has scheduled an auction for sale of around 489,000 t of iron ore (both fines and lumps, Fe56.43-64.81%) from its Kumaraswamy mines in Karnataka on 5 July.
  
  

To know more about the Indian iron ore market watch out for the 'iron ore and pellets conference'.

SteelMint Events will be hosting the 5th Indian Iron Ore & Pellet Summit on 3-4 August, 2022 at The Lalit, New Delhi. The conference will discuss key issues being faced by the iron ore and pellets industry in India. The focus will be on market dynamics, policy-related changes, growth challenges and enablers, sustainability and decarbonisation goals, the way forward and many more talk points.