SteelMint: PELLEX remains stable while market awaits NMDC's iron ore price revision

SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 11,250/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 29 April, 2022 - stable compared with the last assessment on 26 April. A small quantity deal concluded but that has not been taken for price calculation in this 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.
  
  
• One small quantity deal reported but not taken into consideration in this publishing window, hence, accorded 0% weightage for T1 trade.
  
  
• Ten (10) firm offers, bids and indicative prices were reported. Eight (08) were taken for price calculation and given 100% weightage.
  
  
• SteelMint received two bids and only one is considered for calculation of the index.
  
  

Raipur-based pellet maker kept offers stable at INR 11,500/t exw ($150/t). Other pellet makers in Raipur have kept offers at INR 11,000-11,200/t exw for Fe 62/63% grade pellets. No major deals happened so far after the price cut.

Jharsuguda-based producers also offering at around INR 10,300-10,500/t exw. A few deals were concluded recently at similar price levels.

Market awaits NMDC's iron ore price revision

Buyers are waiting eagerly for NMDC prices to be released soon in the next few days before taking any buying decision. Notably, NMDC had scheduled two iron ore auctions from Chhattisgarh on 28 April. The material offered was DR-CLO, Baila lump, fines and ROM. The entire lot of 16,800 t of DR-CLO (10-40mm, Fe 67%) was booked at a premium of around INR 30/t against the base price of INR 7,375/t. Two lots of ROM were heard booked at the base price, while the remaining lots from Bacheli and Kirandul remained unsold, as per sources.

Pellet-based DRI (P-DRI, FeM 80%) prices in Raipur stood at INR 36,000/t exw, down by around INR 1,300/t w-o-w. However, on a dailly basis, sponge iron prices increased by around INR 500/t this week.

Indian pellet market overview: Domestic pellet prices across key regions remained stable except Bellary.

• Iron ore pellet (Fe 63%) prices in Bellary, Karnataka, decreased by around INR 200/t to INR 10,000/t exw today, as per SteelMint assessment.
  
  

Region-wise pellet offers and deals: