NMDC Hikes Iron Ore Prices To 16-Month High

NMDC Ltd. has hiked iron ore prices to a 16-month high.

India's largest iron-ore producer hiked lump-ore prices by 5% to Rs 5,200 per tonne and iron-ore fines by 6% to Rs 4,460 per tonne from October, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday.

Lump ore prices are the highest since May 2022, while fines prices crossed these levels in April 2022.

Lump ore and fines prices have been hiked by 26.8% and 53.2% this year so far by NMDC. Prices of both forms of iron ore are near their three-year average levels.

NMDC's iron-ore production rose 21% to 19.6 million tonne in the first half of FY24, while sales increased 26% to 20.5 MT.

Shares of NMDC rose 1.35% to an intraday high of Rs 149.95 apiece. It pared gains to trade 0.03% lower at Rs 147.90 per share, compared to a 0.58% decline in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 at 2.46 p.m.

The stock has risen 20.2% on a year-to-date basis, compared to a 7.88% increase in the Nifty. The relative strength index was at 66.5.

Sixteen out of the 21 analysts tracking NMDC maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock, two recommend a 'hold', and three suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential downside of 2.5%.