SteelMint: PELLEX stable in absence of deals, buyers hold back

SteelMint's bi-weekly domestic pellet (Fe 63%) index, PELLEX, stood at INR 8,800/tonne (t) DAP Raipur on 12 July 2022, stable compared to the last assessment on 12 July. No deal has been reported so far in this publishing window as buyers stayed away.

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.
  
  
• No deal was reported and not taken into consideration in this publishing window and hence accorded 0% weightage for T1 trade.
  
  
• Ten (10) firm offers, bids and indicative prices were reported. Around nine (09) were taken for price calculation and given 100% weightage.
  
  
• SteelMint received one bid at around INR 8,150 and it was considered for calculation of the index.
  
  

Buyers in this publishing window were silent due to the increased pellet offers post-NMDC and OMC price cuts this week. Buyers are mostly in wait-and-watch mode and eyeing the OMC auction outcome which is scheduled on 18 July.

OMC cuts base prices for upcoming iron ore e-auction: State-run Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has decreased the base price for fines by up to INR 150/t. For lumps, however, base prices have remained largely unchanged except for material from the Jilling mine for which the base price has been reduced by INR 400/t as against the price of the last auction held on 23 June.

Pellet-based DRI (P-DRI, FeM 80%) prices in Raipur were stable w-o-w at INR 34,900/t exw. On a daily basis, sponge iron prices decreased by around INR 300/t.

Indian pellets market overview:

• The current assessment for Odisha's Barbil iron ore pellets (Fe 63%) was stable at INR 7,500/t loaded on to wagon.
  
  
• Iron ore pellet (Fe 63%) prices in Bellary were also almost stable at INR 10,000/t exw today as per SteelMint's assessment.
  
  

Region-wise pellet offers and deals: