India’s top steelmakers take diverging paths on iron ore sourcing
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India's two largest steelmakers have diverging strategies on the acquisition of captive iron ore mines for securing the supply of this critical raw material. JSW Steel, which has historically had more reliance on the open market to meet its iron ore demand, is aggressively bidding for acquiring more captive mines, or mines under its leasehold.
Read this | Cheap steel brought relief for automakers. But the bonanza may not last Meanwhile, Tata Steel, which currently procures all its iron ore from captive mines, is exploring meeting at least part of its requirement from the open market as the lease on several of its key mines expires in 2030. The strategies will be closely watched by large independent miners like NMDC Ltd and Odisha Mining Corp.
Ltd (OMC), who supply iron ore to the steel sector. These strategies could also have a big implication for the government exchequer, which makes significant revenues through royalties from the allocation of mining blocks. The competition for mining blocks dictates the prices fetched by these national resources in auctions.
Tata Steel is evaluating how much of its iron ore procurement it wants to meet from captive sources "because if the bid premiums are very high, then it really doesn't make sense to have 100% captive because you can get it cheaper from the market," T.V. Narendran, the managing director of Tata Steel, said in a recent post-earnings call with analysts. Bid premium refers to the amount that mining companies pay the government as royalty on top of the base price.
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