NMDC may cut iron ore production as demand wanes

India’s largest iron-ore producer, NMDC, may need to cut production because of falling demand for the steelmaking raw material. NMDC’s iron-ore sales in the domestic market have fallen as much as 30 percent, according to Steel secretary Pramod Rastogi. 
 
Iron-ore contract prices may halve to $46 a ton next year as demand from China slumps, Cash prices for iron ore delivered to China have slumped 59 percent this half, prompting Rio Tinto Group, the second-biggest exporter, to delay shipments. NMDC cut prices for domestic buyers by 25 percent from Dec. 1, partly reversing a 40 percent increase announced in October for the year started April 1. 
 
However, steel-product prices have very small room to decline further, as prices for hot-rolled coil steel, a benchmark product used in cars and construction, have fallen 18 percent since mid-August to 670 euros ($867) a metric ton.