India: Following the OMC auction, SteelMint's Odisha iron ore fines index increases slightly.

Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) weekly index from SteelMint increased by 100/t w-o-w to INR 5,100/t ex-mines on October 21, 2023, compared to the previous assessment on October 14. In this publishing window, there was no deal reported from merchant miners for the high grade.

According to sources, the iron ore demand remained low due to the festival season, but prices started to rise after the OMC auction that was held earlier this week. The majority of buyers only placed material bookings at the OMC auction. The market will be more clear in the following week following the festival because the merchant miners have not yet opened the offers for iron ore.
On October 18, the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) held an auction for 3.046 mnt of iron ore, consisting of 2.159 mnt of fines and 0.887 mnt of lumps. The auction saw active participation from the steelmakers, and the total amount of fines was booked at INR 4,150-5,250/t ex-mines. Except for a few minor lots that fetched bids higher by INR 800-1,000/t, bids for fines increased by up to INR 600/t. In contrast, 839,000 t, or 95% of the total material, was purchased at INR 4,300-7,800/t in the lumps auction. There was an increase in lump bids of up to INR 500-1,050/t. The miner reduced the earlier base prices for fines and lumps by up to INR 100/t and INR 1,700/t, respectively.

However, according to some market sources, miners are under pressure to lower their iron ore offers because the cost of raw pellets, sponge iron, and finished steel has fallen due to weak demand and sales at lower prices in India's central and eastern regions. Most of the miners were not given access to superior raw materials.