NMDC rolls over existing prices as iron ore sales decline

Last time, on April 18, the company had revised ore prices downwards by 6% to Rs 3,050

Central government-owned iron ore miner NMDC has decided to keep prices unchanged this month.

Offtake from the steel sector has been subdued in the past couple of months, say officials. The previous revision was on April 18, when the company had reduced ore prices by six per cent to Rs  3,050 a tonne for lumps from Rs  3,250, and by 20 per cent for fines to Rs  1,960 from Rs 2,460 a tonne in the month of March. The prices will possibly be reviewed next month.

Production and sales fell for the first two months of the financial year, April and May, by 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, say company sources. Output and sales growth in 2014-15 were flat, compared to the previous year's 30.4 million tonnes and Rs 12,356 crore, respectively. The decline in April-May comes as NMDC gears up to raise production by five to eight mt this year.


"Though steel prices are firming up a little these days, manufacturers continue to face inventory issues. Due to this, ore offtake was relatively low," an NMDC official told Business Standard, on condition of anonymity.

According to reports, steel consumption in the country grew around three per cent last year.