NMDC Announces Further Cut in Iron Ore Prices

Government-owned minerals producer, NMDC Ltd has reduced the prices of iron ore by Rs 400 on 9th May 2020 and also reduced the price of DR calibrated lump ore (DRCLO) by Rs.470 per tonne. Earlier on April 4, NMDC had reduced the price of iron ore by Rs 500 per tonne and DRCLO by Rs 580 per tonne. In this way, within a span of one month, NMDC has reduced the iron ore by Rs 900 per tonne and DRCLO by Rs 1,050 per tonne. The main customers of DRCLO are steelmakers located in the state of Chhattisgarh.

This reduction in the prices of iron ore has given a lot of relief to the steel companies, especially sponge iron-based steel companies in Chhattisgarh. NMDC has considered the current market scenario of steel and iron ore and taken informed decisions to rationalise the prices.

N Baijendra Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director, NMDC said, “The reduction in prices by NMDC has given a lot of relief to the steel companies and they have appreciated this move of NMDC at this difficult juncture."

It may be noted that all the major steel mills are running at reduced capacity because of depleted demand for end products.

Some of the merchant miners at Odisha including Odisha Mining Corp. (OMC) have reduced the iron ore prices by Rs 500 per tonne in their recently concluded auction, still, they could not dispose of the entire stock.