India: BigMint's pellet export index rises $2/t w-o-w as freight rates cool-off

• India-China vessel freight rates drop $3/t w-o-w
  
  
• Bid-offer disparities continue impacting export deal closures
  
  

BigMint's India pellet (Fe 63%, 3-3.5% Al) export index rose by $2/t w-o-w to $100/t FOB east coast on 17 June 2026 against $98/t on 10 June. The overall market tone was weak, although trading activity continued to remain slow as overseas buyers stayed cautious amid weak steel market fundamentals in China.

Chinese pellet inventories across 34 major ports stood at around 6.78 mnt this week, remaining broadly firm compared to the previous week. Market participants continued monitoring iron ore fines prices, Chinese steel demand and recent macroeconomic developments closely, which kept fresh buying interest limited.

Seaborne pellet trade activity remained thin during the assessment period, with only one deal heard from India. According to market sources, a pellet producer concluded a 60,000 t deal for Fe 64% grade pellets from Vizag at around $122-124/t CFR China.

Another tender was floated by southern India player for high-grade low alumina pellet (Fe 66%, Al2O3<1.5%), which was heard to be postponed for tomorrow.

Rationale

• Zero (0) confirmed deals from India's east coast was recorded in this publishing window for T1 trade, and, therefore, this category was allotted 0% weightage for today's price calculations. Click here for the detailed methodology.
  
  
• Thirteen (13) indicative prices were received, and ten (10) were considered for the calculation of the index and given a balance 100% weightage.
  
  

Market updates

According to market participants, overall market activity remained on the slower side despite stable seller sentiments. Most pellet producers were largely occupied with domestic bulk orders during the week, which reduced their interest in actively offering cargoes in the seaborne market.

A seller informed BigMint, "Domestic demand has improved over the past few days, and many pellet producers are currently prioritising local sales. Export enquiries are there, but overseas bids are poor against the local transaction prices."

Meanwhile, an international trader commented, "The recent rise in FOB offer levels is mainly because freight rates have dropped to around $13/t. Lower freight costs have narrowed the gap and supported higher FOB offers."

BigMint's assessment for iron ore vessel freight rates from eased by $2.7/t w-o-w to $13.2/t on 16 Jun'26. The Supramax segment also stayed under pressure amid limited fresh cargo enquiries and weak chartering activity. A lack of notable fixtures reflected cautious charterer sentiment, while adequate vessel availability continued to weigh on freight rates.

However, overall overseas demand remained lukewarm. Buyers were heard taking a cautious approach following recent macroeconomic data releases from China, which further weakened sentiment and highlighted concerns over soft steel demand fundamentals.

Market participants added that bid-offer disparities continued to persist in the seaborne market, with buyers maintaining lower bids while sellers remained reluctant to reduce offers aggressively. Moreover, iron ore futures outlook too remains soft in the near 2-3 days, weakening the market sentiment.

Apart from the above-mentioned transaction, no other confirmed pellet deals from India's east coast were reported during the assessment window.

Domestic vs export market

The price gap between export and domestic realisations was recorded at INR 160/t this week, decreasing by INR 110/t. Export realisations (Fe 63%) were at INR 7,491/t ($79/t) this week, reflecting slight improvement in export w-o-w amid drop in pellet prices. However, domestic realisations (Fe 62.5%) reduced by INR 100/t ($1/t) w-o-w to INR 7,650/t ($81/t) exw.

Factors impacting pellet exports

Chinese iron ore fines prices remain firm w-o-w: The benchmark iron ore fines Fe 61% index held stable w-o-w to $101/dmt CFR China on 16 June. However, market softened as the momentum from earlier buying activity for July and August delivery cargoes weakened, resulting in lower traded levels following the previous uptick. Meanwhile, portside trading activity improved marginally, while seaborne transaction volumes remained broadly steady.

DCE iron ore futures edge down w-o-w: Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) for the September 2026 contract settled at RMB 759.5/t ($112/t) on 17 June, weakening w-o-w.

Outlook