Indian state-run iron ore pellet producer KIOCL Limited has shut down its Mangalore plant located in the southern state of Karnataka, a company regulatory filing said on Monday, May 15.
The company said that the 3.5 million mt per year capacity plant had been shut down for maintenance, but it did not disclose any date for resumption of operations.
Though not stated officially by the company, sources among pellet producers said that, with exports to China at a very low level and prices at a near-term low, it was natural for plants to implement maintenance shutdowns now.
There had been speculation last week that KIOCL Limited had cancelled a large 50,000 mt tender-based export offer owing to the poor response from bidders.