India's top miner tests local iron ore pricing; shift from global index, source says
NEW DELHI, June 2 (Reuters) - India's key iron ore producer NMDC (NMDC.NS), opens new tab is testing a new pricing formula for its output to shield its profits from the volatilities reflected in global benchmarks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
State-run NMDC, which sells its output locally, currently releases monthly iron ore prices linked to inventories, international prices and domestic market dynamics.
The company plans to launch the new formula after initial trials, the source said, declining to be identified as the plan is not public yet.
"We are taking baby steps," the source added.
The new formula will not link prices to any international index or exchange, the source said.
With the launch of the new mechanism, NMDC will gradually move to a more frequent disclosure of iron ore prices, the source said, adding the intervals had not been finalised yet.
"Going forward, we will try to do it more frequently so that there is no lag in whatever is happening in the market and our prices," the source said.
The miner will also collect pricing information from different stockyards across cities, compared to the existing mechanism of gathering information from mines, the source said.
NMDC did not respond to a Reuters email seeking comments.
India's JSW Steel (JSTL.NS), opens new tab, the country's biggest steelmaker by capacity, primarily sources its iron ore from NMDC.
NMDC reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by lower product prices.
India is also in the process of overhauling the average sale price of iron ore to garner higher revenues for the government, as the mines ministry believes some miners try to depress prices artificially in order to pay lower royalties to the government.
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For weeks, Subash Devatwal's phone has not stopped ringing. Some of the calls have been from distressed students, at other times it is their panicked parents, but all have the same question – is their dream of studying in the US still possible? Devatwal runs an education consultancy in Ahmedabad, the main city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is one of thousands of such organisations that exist across the country, helping Indian students achieve what many consider to be the ultimate symbol of success: getting into an American university. It has long been a booming business for Devatwal. Families in India will often invest their entire life savings to send their children to study in the US and last year there were more than 330,000 Indians enrolled at American universities, more than any other foreign nationality, overtaking Chinese students in numbers for the first time in years. But this year the situation looks drastically different. As Donald Trump's administration has taken aim at international students – first implementing draconian screening measures over political views and then last week ordering all US embassies globally to indefinitely pause all student visa interviews – many Indian students and their families have been left in limbo. Trump's unilateral decision to block Harvard University from admitting international students, which was later blocked by the courts, also caused widespread panic and stoked fears that foreign students at other universities could get caught in the president's crosshairs. 'The students are in shock. Most of them spend several years preparing to study in the US,' said Devatwal. He said many of his clients were now hesitant to pursue a US degree, given the high levels of turmoil and uncertainty following the Trump administration's new policies. Indian students can expect to pay between $40,000 to $80,000 (£29,500 to £59,000) a year on tuition alone to study in the US. In previous years, Devatwal's organisation sent more than 100 students to American universities but this year he said the number had dropped to about 10. Instead, families were shifting their focus to the UK and other European countries. A recent analysis by the Hindu newspaper estimated a 28% drop in Indian students going to the US in 2025. 'Families contribute their savings, take out loans from banks and borrow from relatives, all in the hope that the student will secure a good job abroad, repay the debt, and build a promising future,' said Devatwal. 'In such uncertain circumstances, parents are understandably reluctant to let their children take such a risky path.' Brijesh Patel, 50, a textile trader in Surat, Gujarat, said he had been saving money for over a decade to make sure his son could go to a US university, including selling his wife's jewellery and borrowing money from relatives. 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He had a fully funded offer for a PhD at a private university in Massachusetts, but recently received a letter saying the funding was being withdrawn, as the university faced issues under the Trump administration. 'It was quite shocking. I spoke to people at the university, and they admitted it was an exceptional situation for them too,' said Gokhale. Without the funding, the US was financially 'out of the question' and he said he had an offer from the UK he now intended to take up. 'For at least the next three or four years, I'm not considering the US at all,' he said.
