India: NMDC’s iron ore output falls over 20% m-o-m in July; Apr-Jul production surges y-o-y

• • NMDC targets 60 mnt iron ore production in FY’27

• • Monsoon impacts production

State-owned miner NMDC’s provisional iron ore production declined sharply to 4.06 million tonnes (mnt) in July 2026, down 21% month-on-month (m-o-m) from 5.15 mnt in June, according to the company’s latest exchange filing. Despite the sequential decline, production was 31% higher year-on-year (y-o-y) compared with 3.09 mnt in July 2025. The drop in production has been largely due to impact of monsoons.

Iron ore sales also weakened during the month, falling 15% m-o-m to 3.40 mnt in July from 3.98 mnt in June. On a y-o-y basis, however, sales were marginally lower by 2% against 3.46 mnt recorded in July 2025.

On a cumulative basis, NMDC produced 19.16 mnt of iron ore during April-July FY’27, up 27% from 15.09 mnt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Cumulative sales stood at 15.15 mnt, marginally higher than 14.98 mnt a year earlier. The company enhanced production capacity in Chhattisgarh substantially: Deposit 14 was increased to 18.5 mnt/year from 10.5 mnt/year and Deposit 5 to 12 mnt/year from 10 mnt/year. This ultimately resulted in higher production from Chhattisgarh.

NMDC has set a production guidance of 60 mnt for FY’27 compared to output of 53 mnt in FY’26. The miner has outlined a detailed roadmap for this, including commencing mining operations from Deposits 4 and 13 in Bailadila.