SteelMint: PELLEX increases by INR 350/t in recent deals, market awaits NMDC's iron ore price revision

SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellets (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 9,650/tonne (t), up by INR 350/t compared to the last assessment on 27 December, 2022. Around 35,000 t of deals were reported in this current publishing window.

Rationale:

• PELLEX has been derived using data points, i.e. trades, offers and bids. You can download the detailed methodology by clicking on this link Click here.
  
  
• Three deals were reported but only two were taken into consideration in this publishing window and accorded 50% weightage for T1 trade.
  
  
• Eight (8) firm offers, bids and indicative prices were reported. Seven (7) were taken for price calculation and given the balance 50% weightage.
  
  
• SteelMint received one bid at INR 9,200/t DAP Raipur which was not considered for index calculation in this publishing window.
  
  

Raipur-based pellets producers increased their offers by up to INR 9,400-9,500/t ($113-115/t) exw from INR 9,000-9,200/t ($109-111/t) exw. Meanwhile, Godawari Power & Ispat Limited (GPIL) increased domestic pellets (Fe63.5%, +/-0.5) offers by INR 300/t ($4/t) to INR 9,800/t exw ($118/t) from INR 9,500/t exw ($115/t) on 17 December. Around 20,000 t of deals were recorded recently at INR 9,800/t.

Market participants are waiting for NMDC's price revision which is round the corner and expected to be released soon. However, pellets trades remained supported on the back of hike in sponge offers and iron ore dispatch issues via road movement in NMDC.

SteelMint's price assessment for sponge P-DRI (FeM 80%) in Raipur moved up to INR 31,950/t w-o-w as against INR 30,750/t exw on 23 December. However, sponge iron prices decreased by INR 50/t d-o-d as against INR 32,000/t exw on 29 December.

Region-wise pellets offers and deals: