Steel Authority of India (Sail) received high bids for 51 lots, totalling 3,900mt of pig iron, auctioned last week on Jan 4. The weighted average bids for pig iron were at Rs30,279/mt, ex-plant Rourkela.
Sail’s base price for the auction was at Rs24,400-24,500/mt ex-plant Rourkela, as bidders were willing to pay a higher price to secure raw material for their operations.
The weighted average bids for the auction conducted on Jan 4 were at Rs30,279/mt, an increase of Rs5,957/mt from the last weighted average price.
Buyers are willing to pay a higher price ahead of a forecasted shortfall of inventories in the next few months. The availability of raw material is likely to be scarce after the merchant mining leases for iron ore mines expire in April according to Sail.
Most bids were from the states of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.