NMDC keeps prices unchanged for November

Subdued demand one of the major factors behind the decision. Iron ore lumps will continue to be available at Rs 4,300 per tonne

State-owned NMDC has decided to keep iron ore prices unchanged for the current month amid subdued demand after having raised them in October by Rs 100 per tonne.

"The company Board, in its meeting held few days back, decided to continue with the rates of October for both the varieties, lumps and fines," a company official said, adding that continuing subdued demand has been one of the major factors behind the decision.

Accordingly, Iron ore lumps will continue to be available at Rs 4,300 per tonne, while fines will be at Rs 2,610 per tonne for the current month.

Last month, the largest domestic iron ore miner had gone for its first price hike in year and had raised the rates by Rs 100 per tonne for both the varieties.

Before that, the company had either reduced prices or kept them unchanged as demand has been subdued.

For lumps (having rich iron contents and considered high grade ore), NMDC has cut prices seven times since October, 2012 and had kept rates unchanged for rest of the months. For fines (or the lower grade iron ore), it had thrice reduced prices and had rolled it over for rest of the months.

During the July-September quarter, state-owned miner's profit had declined by 21% to Rs 1,318 crore due to lower sales realisation as prices had declined considerably in the period. Its turnover was also down 5% to Rs 2,480 crore during the last quarter.

Last month, company's acting head C S Verma had said that iron ore prices would remain stable for the remaining part of the fiscal, while expressing hope that increased sales on the back of better demand from steel makers would improve company's profitability.

The company has a total production capacity of 32 MT per annum at its mines in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. It has kept a target of expanding its iron ore mining capacity to 40 MT by 2014-15.

NMDC scrip was trading at Rs 137 on the BSE at 1500 hrs, down 0.36% from the previous close.