Stainless steel ingredient chrome ore fell by 1.2% in the October 30 e-auction conducted by Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to sell at Rs 14,354 per tonne for 54 grade ore, on slack demand and tracking international chrome ore prices.

In the September auction, the high grade ore was quoted at Rs 14,522 per tonne.

"One of the main reason for drop in prices was because of reduction in base prices by OMC this time. They had slashed base prices by 3 per cent forhigh grade ore and upto 19% for other low grade ores which reflected in the prices," said an official of a ferrochrome maker, which participated in the auction.

OMC pegs its base price by tracking rates of chrome ore offered by MMTC, the authorised trader to export the mineral from India. Global prices of chrome ore have witnessed a decline in past two months on slack demand from China, the biggest ferrochrome producer.

A slight improvement in domestic supplies also ensured drop in OMC auction rates, traders said.

In the October 30 auction, OMC had offered 68,000 tonne chrome ore, up from 48,500 tonne offered in the previous auction.

In the latest auction, about 40,000 tonne was reserved for local industries and 17,000 tonne was marked for buyers outside of Odisha. The lot also included 11,000 tonne chrome ore concentrate of varying
grades.

Among other grades, 52 grade was sold for Rs 13,315 a tonne, 48-50 grade got highest bid of Rs 12,992 a tonne while 46-48 grade was quoted at Rs 9,313 per tonne, lower than previous auction.

However, for other than Odisha buyers, the prices rose sharply to Rs 18,954 a tonne for 54 grade friable ore, up from Rs 14,622 sold in previous auction. Bidders quoted Rs 14,015 per tonne for 52 grade ore while 48-50 grade ore fetched Rs 12,771 per tonne.

Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) emerged as the biggest purchaser of the mineral at about 15,000 tonne ore and concentrate, followed by Visa Steel at 11,000 tonne purchase order. Rohit Ferrotech bought 8,100 tonne ore while Shyam Metalliks bid for 6,700 tonne ore.

Among out of Odisha buyers, Andhra Ferroalloys and Tirumala Balaji participated in the auction.

Nearly all of India's chrome ore is produced in Odisha, with OMC having control of a little over a third of production. Ferrochrome is used in production of stainless steel. Most ferrochrome producers in the state and country export the commodity as there is limited production of stainless steel in domestic market.