The country's largest iron ore miner NMDC has hiked prices for the first time since last September. The rise in key raw material prices by about ₹200 a tonne each to ₹2,800 for lump ore of 65.5 per cent Fe and ₹2,560 for 64 per cent Fe. Following this, some of the private merchant miners are also negotiating higher price for their ores.
The hike in iron ore prices come at a time when steel companies have implemented a rise of ₹1,500-1,750 a tonne for this month.
Baijendra Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NMDC has set an iron ore production target of 48 million tonne for next fiscal against 32 mt in FY'19.
The public sector has said it will ensure enough supply to meet demand post-March when iron ore leases of many private players will be cancelled.
The demand for iron ore has increased in last few months as most steel mills are building inventory in anticipation of supply disruption and sharp price rise.
For the first nine months of this fiscal, NMDC iron ore production increased marginally by 0.73 per cent to 22.01 mt (21.85 mt) while sales were up four per cent 23.03 mt (22.18 mt).
The cancellation of Donimalai lease in Karnataka has NMDC hard in last few months. However, the government has given clearance for enhancing production at Kumaraswamy mine in Karnataka to 10 mtpa from 7 mtpa.