Reacting to the poor response in previous rounds of auction, the provincial government of the western Indian province of Goa has reduced the base price in the iron ore auction to be held today, Tuesday, September 8, according to a government official.
The official said that in the eighth round of auction the government will put on offer about 1.10 million mt of low grade iron ore fines lying idle in dumps across the province.
The grades of iron ore fines are in the range of 49-61 percent Fe content and the base price ranges from INR 400/mt ($7.5/mt) to INR 860/mt ($12.8/mt). This is on average INR 100/mt ($1.5/mt) lower than the average price in the seventh round of auction.
The series of auctions conducted by government-owned trading house Metal Scrap Trading Corporation of India Limited (MSTC) on behalf of the Goa government is aimed at liquidating the estimated 16 million mt of iron ore fines dumps across pitheads and stockyards in the province, according to government officials.
In the seventh round of auction held last month, the government had put on offer 1 million mt of iron ore but successful bids were for only 55,000 mt, prompting the government to lower the base price in the latest round of auction, the official said.