By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/JAJPUR: High chrome ore floor price being fixed by the State run OMC has sparked discontent among downstream chrome ore processors in the state with Kalinga Nagar Industries Association writing to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik about “illogical formula” by
the OMC for calculating the floor price of chrome ore which has effectively increased the price of it.The KNIA have urged the government to reduce the floor price of chrome ore at auctions held by OOMC last month in view of the falling price of ferrochrome. KNIA had earlier requested the OMC to reduce the chrome ore floor price formula from 13.5 per cent to 12.65 per cent of chrome price.
“Due to extremely high and arbitrary floor price of chrome ore being fixed by OMC, the e-auctions of the state owned company have had a very poor response and ferrochrome
industries in Odisha who are LTL buyers of OMC are suffering,” said president of KNIA, P L Kandoi in his letter. He claimed that during the e-auction held on April 23, 2021, only 14,800 MT of chrome ore out of 35,100 MT was solddue to very high floor price. Similarly, the earlier e-auctions on January 1, 2021, February 10, 2021 and March 15, 2021 also had very poor response due to the same reason.
OMC has fixed the chrome ore floor price based on formula at 13.5 per cent of ferro chrome price with correction factor. Based on this, the floor price should have been Rs 13,457 per MT for 48-50 grade chrome ore during e-auction. However, OMC has arbitrarily added an additional amount of Rs 3,070 per MT to the formula for calculating the floor price of chrome ore (making it Rs 16,527 per MT), the Association said.Even despite OMC did not sell 100 per cent of the quantity of chrome ore through e-auction, it is still applying such a high floor price to Odisha based LTL (Long term linkage) buyers, the KNIA claimed.
