India: Essel Mining Cuts Iron Ore Prices upto INR 300/MT (USD 4/MT)

Essel Mining - a major iron ore miner in Odisha has reduced its offers for iron ore lumps by INR 300/MT (USD 4/MT) and INR 150/MT in fines (USD 2/MT) w.e.f 22nd Mar’19.

According to sources, after price correction from Jilling mines for 65% Fe calibrated iron ore lumps (5-18mm) stands at Rs 5,625/MT (USD 81/MT ) and 10-30mm stands at INR 5,225/MT (USD 76/MT) including royalty and taxes on FoR basis.

Current prices of fines (Fe 63% from Jilling mines) is assessed at INR 2,545/MT (ex-mines, including Royalty, DMF & NMET).

Earlier on 28th Feb 2019 Essel Mining, reduce its offers for iron ore lumps by INR 400/MT.
Essel Mining is one of the largest merchant iron ore miners with an annual capacity of 10 MnT per annum.

Few of the major merchant miners namely - KJS Ahluwalia, Kaypee Enterprises, KN Ram and Indrani Patnaik are learned to have utilized their EC limits for the year and hence are not offering significant quantities.

Reasons for price cut

1. Decline in sponge prices-: P-DRI prices for Durgapur declined sharply by INR 900/MT M-o-M to INR 18,400/MT as against INR 19,300/MT a month back. C-DRI prices in Durgapur also declines by INR 900/MT to INR 19,600/MT against a month back at INR 20,500/MT.

2. Fall in domestic pellet offers-: SteelMint’s assessment for pellets in Durgapur region has come down by INR 1,100-1,200/MT in a month’s time and by around INR 250/MT in a week’s time amid limited trades and fall in sponge prices.

3. Lowered pellet export offers amid falling Chinese demand-: Currently SteelMint’s assessment for India pellet export stands at around USD 114-115/MT, CFR China, down by USD 6-7/MT M-o-M. Chinese mills are seen preferring low-grade iron ore which in turn kept inquiries for Indian pellets on the lower side.

source: SteelMint