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The state government managed Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has invited price setting tender (PST) for high grade sized iron ore to be sold during April to June. The bids can be submitted by the 23 March.
A total of 75,000 tonnes of sized iron ore of 62 and 65 grades are on offer this time. Out of which, 5,000 tonne of 62 grade iron ore is from Barbil region, 10,000 tonne of 62 grade from Gandhamardan region, 40,000 tonnes of 62 grade and 5,000 tonnes of 65 grade are from Koira mining circle. The miner will also sale 15,000 tonnes of 62 grade sized iron ore from Daitari region.
Bidders with own sponge iron, pig iron and steel units can participate in the tender. State based iron ore crusher units can bid for the 5,000 tonne 62 grade iron ore from Barbil region only. However, any agency having iron ore lease will not be eligible to participate in the tender.
OMC decides iron ore rates by auctioning a fraction of the total salable quantity in every quarter and declares the benchmark rate after arriving at average price. This tender will set the price for the April-June quarter. In the Jan-March period, the prices of 62 grade sized iron ore of Barbil region and Gandhamardan region were fixed at Rs 3,500 and Rs 3,504 per tonne respectively, while 62 and 65 grade sized iron ore of Koira region were set at Rs 5,354 and Rs 6,711 respectively.
Prices for 62 grade iron ore of Daitari region was decided to be sold at Rs 4,000 in the current quarter. Though the Jan-Mar prices were higher than previous quarter, traders said the rates are likely to fall in the upcoming quarter due to abundant supplies and weak trends in global markets.
"I do not think the Apr-Jan rates would rise compared with current quarter since there are enough supplies from private miners. About four to five million tonne high grade sized ore are available for sale from private miners”, said an official of MSP Metaliks, which often participates in OMC tenders.
"Besides, a sharp 15 per cent fall in global prices of iron ore will also factor into pricing”, the official added. In international markets, the price of 62 grade iron ore has come down from $158 a tonne in September 2012 to $130 per tonne recently on concerns of weak demand and higher supplies. OMC controls about a tenth of Odisha’s iron ore trade, and the rest is commanded by private miners such as Rungta Sons and Essel Mining. Many traders track OMC rates to decide the rates of their mineral, which vary from place to place because of the iron content and other chemical properties such as presence of manganese and bauxite.
The state is the largest producer of iron ore in the country with over 60 million tonne annual output. Apart from catering to the demand of domestic sponge iron producers, it supplies the raw material to secondary steel makers of West Bengal, Chhatishgarh also.
