India's BRPL hits record pellet exports in November

BRPL, one of India's largest iron ore pellet exporters, achieved its highest monthly sales of 357,562t in November.

The company, which ships pellet mostly to China, exported six shipments of 55,000-66,000t each in November. BRPL typically ships around 280,000-300,000 t/month of pellet.

BRPL's previous highest monthly sales was at 354,027t in November 2018.

BRPL, Jindal Steel and Rashmi Metaliks are the largest exporters of iron ore pellet to China. State-controlled KIOCL, another major producer, has mostly shipped pellet to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the past few months.

Demand for Indian pellet in China increased last month on an expansion of mills' profit margins and seasonal stocking of direct-charge material in anticipation of sintering restrictions during the winter months.

The Argus 64pc Fe, 3pc Al cfr China pellet assessment, which closely tracks mainstream Indian pellet shipments to China, rose by 5pc last month to $108/dry metric tonne (dmt) on 26 November.

Indian pellet exports to China increased by 86pc on the year in April-September, the first half of the 2019-20 fiscal year, to 4.95mn t, according to government data.

By Prasenjit Bhattacharya

source: Argus Media