Indian mining company National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has raised iron ore prices by Rs150/mt ($2/mt) for November deliveries.
The company has been raising iron ore prices since early-July due to strong demand from domestic primary and secondary steel mills.
Low production in Odisha and increase in export of iron ore and pellets since April 2020 has supported the rise. The total price rise from July till now is around Rs 1,200/mt ($16.02/mt) for both, lumps and fines.
After the revision, NMDC’s iron ore lumps are priced at Rs3,600/mt ($48.07/mt) and fines at Rs3,160/mt ($42.19/mt) effective November 4, according to a company release.
Odisha government auctioned iron ore blocks for 19 mines in February 2020. Only five mines are operational, as mentioned in a recent JSW Steel earnings conference call with industry experts. Those five mines are not able to ramp-up the capacity because of evacuation issue.
Meanwhile, domestic primary steelmakers have been raising HRC prices since mid-July. Till date, prices have increased by Rs8,500-9,000/mt ($114-120/mt) due to strong recovery from the automotive and other white goods sectors.
Besides, international iron ore prices have also surged by around $40/mt since April 2020 due to record high steel production in China and supply concern from Brazil.
International iron ore prices, which were around $84/mt in early-April and reached $124/mt in September, softened since then and are now at $117-118/mt.
Davis Index also reported on NMDC production for October.